Miami-Dade County is getting ready to load thousands of tons of its garbage onto trains and send it north, straight into Central Florida. Under a long-term deal, roughly 4,800 tons of trash a week, close to 250,000 tons a year, will roll into the Heart of Florida Landfill in Sumter County. That plan requires a new rail spur at the landfill and has already stirred up anger in nearby rural communities that say they are being asked to solve a big-city problem.
According to Miami-Dade County records, the shipments are locked into a Third Amended agreement with Waste Connections of Florida that runs through Oct. 1, 2035, with two additional 10-year renewal options on the table. The county is required to deliver 4,800 tons per week in intermodal containers to the Heart of Florida site and, once rail service begins, will pay a transfer and disposal fee of $72.25 per ton.
Bushnell Residents Say It’s Not For Their Benefit
Neighbors in Bushnell and Lake Panasoffkee say they did not find out about the trash trains until after the plan was in motion, and they are not thrilled to be hosting Miami’s garbage. They worry about what this will mean for day-to-day life: more odors, more trucks, more trains and a hit to property values.
As WESH reported, resident Debra Arcus summed up the concern in simple terms: “I don’t see how it couldn’t smell,” she said. Others argue that Miami-Dade’s reliance on a Central Florida landfill feels like the county is offloading its own waste crisis onto a much smaller community.
Leachate, Odors And A Controversial Well
Even before Miami’s trash enters the picture, the Heart of Florida Landfill has been on the radar for odor issues and how it handles leachate, the contaminated liquid that drains from waste. Sumter County presentations and permitting files show the site has been the subject of persistent complaints over smells and the way it manages that liquid…