In the sunny enclave of Palm Beach County, a saga recently unfolded that epitomizes the age-old struggle between individual liberty and bureaucratic intervention. It’s the tale of Melissa Corichi, affectionately known as the “Worm Queen,” and her environmental endeavor, Let it Rot.
Let it Rot was a small business focused on composting organic waste through vermiculture, which is the process of using worms to break down food scraps and create nutrient-rich worm castings for soil enrichment. Operating in Palm Beach County, Florida, the business aimed to reduce landfill waste by collecting organic material from local residents and businesses, composting it, and selling the resulting compost.
In April 2022, Melissa received an alarming call from the Solid Waste Authority (SWA) of Palm Beach County. They demanded an inspection of her farm headquarters and ordered her to cease operations within the county. “I was initially surprised and confused,” Melissa recalls. “After operating for 8 years and growing the collection business to 250 customers, I was getting ready to scale up my operation. But they told me businesses like mine aren’t allowed to exist in Palm Beach County.” The SWA’s argument was rooted in the Flow Code, a regulation that grants SWA exclusive control over waste processing. They accused her of undermining their waste-to-energy initiatives by diverting organic waste from incinerators, even though Let it Rot focused on composting using worms—vermiculture.
The implications of this monopolistic enforcement are far-reaching, with the SWA claiming all rights to the waste produced in the county. For Melissa, the situation quickly escalated, with SWA regulators visiting her clients and issuing threats of daily fines for engaging with her service. “It felt like they were implying I was stealing from them by offering my service,” Melissa said. “They even went to my family’s property and harassed them, searching everywhere I had previously worked.” The repeated cease-and-desist orders not only disrupted her business but also posed personal threats, pushing her into a tragic decision to shut down her operations entirely…