The quiet of Fort Pierce, a serene waterfront community, has been disrupted by an issue dragged in from over 100 miles away: garbage from Miami-Dade County. According to CBS12 News, locals are aggravated by the odor, flies, and rodents that have accompanied the arrival of trash by train. Edward Koch, a long-time Fort Pierce resident, expressed his frustration, “It makes me angry, yeah. It’s so annoying. We get in our house sometimes, and the whole house is full of flies,” he told the publication.
This situation arose after Miami-Dade County’s waste-to-energy incinerator suffered a catastrophic fire, forcing the county to find alternative means of disposing its garbage. Subsequently, trash has been transported in sealed containers to Fort Pierce, where it is then moved by truck to a landfill in Okeechobee County, as reported by TCPalm. However, when empty containers return to Fort Pierce’s railyard, the remaining trash residue, has been causing a stink—literally. Dr. Ronald Lyman, a veterinarian living in the area, outlined the severity: “We’ve had a terrible smell, we’ve had an increase in the rodent population,n and a tremendous increase in the fly population. This is a public health issue,” Dr. Lyman explained in an interview with CBS12 News.
After its incinerator burned down, Miami-Dade County has been shipping its trash to Fort Pierce, creating a stinky situation for residents. https://t.co/YJuWPY0p9d
— TCPalm (@TCPalm) May 2, 2025
Residents’ pleas for a resolution seem to echo in a void, as attempts to reach the Fort Pierce Mayor’s Office for comment have garnered no response. The containers, when moved back to the railyard, remain uncovered, potentially exacerbating the stench and attracting more flies and rodents, which multiply under such conditions. “They sit there, and the stench and the flies and rodents multiply,” said Dr. Lyman, indicating the urgency of the situation…