Landfill plan returns after rejection over sinkhole concerns

A landfill decried as a threat to Tampa's water supply is again under consideration in eastern Pasco County, nearly a year after it was rejected by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Largo-based Angelo's Aggregate Materials recently submitted plans to Pasco County for a smaller landfill where it proposed to build the original dump in 2006. The site sits between Zephyrhills and Dade City and is about a mile west of the Green Swamp.

The Green Swamp feeds the Hillsborough River, which provides Tampa's drinking water. The location of the project has drawn objections from environmentalists and city officials fearful a failure of the landfill's liner could pollute the city's water supply.

Angelo's new plan shrinks the overall footprint of its new landfill project by about one-third, from 1,039 acres to 716 acres. The project's controversial household-garbage component shrinks by more than half, from 604 acres to 275 acres.

A 240-acre construction debris landfill has been eliminated.

The DEP rejected the Angelo's proposal last February, partly out of concern Angelo's didn't offer enough evidence the project was immune to sinkholes.

Angelo's new proposal says engineering crews tested the ground beneath the landfill site to a depth of 100 feet and found no evidence of sinkholes.

In its proposal, Angelo's says its project poses no risk to the Green Swamp or to the Hillsborough River. The site sits in a basin that drains to the Withlacoochee River, which supplies no public drinking water. Groundwater in the area also flows away from the swamp.

Opponents say none of that matters. They continue to object to putting a landfill so close to the Green Swamp.

"Pasco is a big county with a lot of empty land," said Tampa City Council member Linda Saul-Sena. "There are lots of other locations that would be more suitable."

A lawsuit has been filed challenging the DEP's decision to reject the original proposal. The legal challenge is scheduled for a hearing March 1 at the DEP's Temple Terrace office.

Citing the pending hearing, Angelo's spokesman John Arnold declined to comment on the new plans.

Landfill critic Carl Roth of Zephyrhills said Angelo's revisions just repackage a bad idea. They could also be a way for Angelo's to get the larger project through the DEP, he said.

"Once they get a smaller one permitted, it's easy to ask for an expansion," Roth said.