C
COUNTY ENGINEER
Environmental Department
ENVIRONMENTAL DEPARTMENT
The environmental division consists of three departments consisting of solid waste, household hazardous waste and mosquito control. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AND RESOURCE RECOVERY The solid waste program for Santa Rosa County includes Central Landfill, Jay Residential Drop Off Station and two closed landfills.
6065 Old Bagdad Highway Milton, FL 32583 850.981.7135 environmental-dept@ santarosa.fl.gov
Central Landfill is a Class I and III facility. Garbage is categorized into either Class I for household garbage or Class III for non-hazardous, non-food contaminated debris. Special waste and certain regulated materials are accepted under specific requirements. Residential household hazardous waste is taken at HHW. Many items that are brought to the landfill for disposal are actually segregated for recycling or alternate disposal. During fiscal year 2014/2015, Central Landfill received over 160,000 tons of Class I materials, nearly 70,000 tons of Class III materials and diverted over 13,000 tons of materials from landfill disposal. In addition, the landfill reused over 4,500 tons of yard waste as alternative daily cover. The scale house attendants assisted nearly 120,000 customers. A major environmental project at Central Landfill has been to take steps to convert landfill gas into usable compressed natural gas, or CNG, an alternative vehicle fuel. Phase I of our landfill gas project included installing the collection system at Central Landfill. The collection system included 30 vertical landfill gas (LFG) extraction wells, three condensate sumps and a total of 14,048 feet of high density polyethylene piping for collection and transportation of LFG to the flare station for destruction, removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Phase II of the project included the engineering design to move forward for approval of the next phase which will include converting the gas being destructed into CNG. Another goal completed this fiscal year included leasing major equipment. The department leased six key pieces of large equipment that are essential for landfill everyday operations. Leasing the equipment saved thousands of dollars in reoccurring repair and maintenance costs for over used, older equipment. A six-acre, double-lined Class 1 disposal cell is in the process of being completed and will provide an additional four years of disposal capacity. FISCAL YEAR 2014/2015 HIGHLIGHTS •
T he ECUA contract began for residents north of the Yellow River, including areas such as Pace, unincorporated Milton and Jay. This provides residents cheaper rates and increased service options.
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Over 6,000 customers were serviced at the Jay Residential Drop Off Station.
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Central Landfill pumped to date approximately 6.7 billion gallons of groundwater for treatment before returning it to the sand and gravel aquifer. Santa Rosa County continues to be an example of successful remediation.
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The environmental department hosted education tours for approximately 120 in the fifth grade from Rhodes Elementary School. They were taught landfill concepts, leachate management, groundwater monitoring, proper disposal of household hazardous waste and the importance of categorizing materials for proper disposal and planning.
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Design plans have begun to implement and construct a new commercial inbound scale and entrance road at Central Landfill. The plans will accommodate not only commercial waste haulers but also help accelerate the weigh-in process for county residents.
CHECKING OUT A CHEMICAL LOCKER
HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE •
The Household Hazardous Waste Facility assisted nearly 6,000 customers and recovered nearly 14,000 gallons of paint, 2,000 gallons of chemicals, over 11,000 gallons of oil and gas, and nearly 5,000 fluorescent bulbs and tubes.
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Household Hazardous Waste shipped over 200 tons of electronic scrap to be recycled, rather than buried in the landfill. They also diverted over eight tons of batteries from landfill disposal. Proper disposal saves landfill, makes a product reusable again and also helps protect against groundwater contamination.
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On average, 14 televisions were recycled per day.
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Over 300,000 pounds of used tires were diverted from Central Landfill disposal.
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Over 9,000 tons of single stream recyclables were collected.
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