The Monarch Hill Landfill in northern Broward will be allowed to grow taller and wider to accommodate more trash, county commissioners decided Tuesday — in a move that was long debated and came despite an outcry from residents in surrounding communities who rallied against the plan.
In a 5-3 vote, Broward County commissioners agreed to give Waste Management the OK to begin the permitting process to be able to grow the landfill.
Some commissioners in favor of the plan noted the landfill is a facility that serves communities countywide, and a decision on whether it should grow needed to finally happen. Of the county’s garbage, County Commissioner Michael Udine said, “It needs to go somewhere, and people need to take a more rational view.”
In addition to Udine, those voting in favor were Beam Furr, Steve Geller, Nan Rich and Hazelle Rogers. Voting against the approval were Mark Bogen, Lamar Fisher and Alexandra Davis. Commissioner Robert McKinzie was absent.
A yearslong debate
The landfill is at the Monarch Hill Renewable Energy Park, in an unincorporated part of northern Broward, bordering various cities. The landfill, whose western boundary is right by Florida’s Turnpike, is east of Coconut Creek. The landfill also is just south of a section of Deerfield Beach, and it is north of a portion of Pompano Beach.
The debate about the landfill’s future has been delayed and argued for years.
The landfill now is 210 feet and is currently permitted to go to 225 feet. The landfill is constructed like a pyramid, where it is built as a slope. It will now be allowed to get wider at its base on 24 acres — land that was a former waste-to-energy incinerator — so it can peak at 325 feet.
Some residents have pleaded for the issue to be delayed or denied, saying it was an issue about public health.
Peter Silbermann, of Deerfield Beach, told county commissioners they may wrongly think they are looking out for residents countywide who elected them. “I know you think you are, but you are not,” he said. “This project is benefiting the interest of Waste Management.”
Deerfield Beach Mayor Bill Ganz, who also spoke at Tuesday’s public meeting, similarly told commissioners that the move was “only about” Waste Management’s “profit margin.”
Philippa Sklaar, of Coconut Creek, told them, “Your voters did not elect you to contaminate their water and pollute their air. Do the job you were voted in to do.”
Waste Management has said it needs the extra space at the landfill because it needs to put the trash somewhere. Waste Management officials warned the county that there could be six years left of life to the current landfill.
It also had argued that if the county refused its request it would mean trucking the construction debris and bulk waste to Okeechobee Landfill — and it would be residents and business owners who would bear the estimated $40 million cost.
State Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, D-Parkland, urged the commission to wait until the completion of a master plan from the Solid Waste Authority of Broward County, which could help provide more insight how to best handle trash.
The decision is “impacting the people we serve for years and decades to come,” she said.
But Commissioner Geller was against delaying the issue any further. “We’ll end up putting this off again and again and again,” Geller said.
Geller drew the anger of residents when he said he would approve Waste Management’s request because “we are a countywide commission” and have to vote in the best interest of the county, “even if they are not necessarily in the best interest of an individual city.”
He called the issue an “insoluble” problem.
“Maybe we’ll ship the garbage into space,” he said, and was met with loud boos. “If you think I care about your booing, you’re mistaken,” he said.
“Let’s ship it to your district,” a man from the audience hollered.
The meeting was at times contentious.
Ralph DeMeo, an attorney hired by Coconut Creek, pledged a lawsuit before the vote. “We will sue if we don’t get the relief we believe we are entitled to and we expect to prevail,” he told commissioners.
Among what Waste Management has offered the county in exchange for its approval is not taking household garbage after October 2027 in favor of construction debris; and spend $2.3 million on recycling education.
Waste Management has argued by cutting out household waste from the landfill, such as diapers and food, it would eliminate the smell that neighbors say affects them.
Dawn McCormick, Waste Management spokeswoman, said after Tuesday’s vote that they will next seek solid waste permits from the county to go higher.
“As soon as we need to go higher we can go higher,” she said because no new construction is needed to build the landfill vertically.
But to go horizontal and fill in 24 acres now available along Wiles Road, there is more prep work that needs to be done, such as the construction of liners to prevent any type of leakage, which costs $1 million an acre, she said. That is several years out, she said.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash
Originally Published: