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Company Lobbies Council About Controversial Landfill

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By NICOLA M. WHITE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 22, 2007

ZEPHYRHILLS - City officials here have no say in whether a controversial landfill can be built in northeast Pasco County.

But that hasn't stopped the company trying to build it from working overtime behind the scenes to sway their opinions.

The stumping - at restaurants, in a city hall meeting room and at the company's offices on Enterprise Road - illustrates just how much is at stake for Angelo's Aggregate Materials, which wants to build a 90-acre household garbage landfill off Enterprise and Messick roads. According to property records, the company has spent at least $22 million this year to acquire land on or near the proposed landfill site.

In February, the Zephyrhills City Council unanimously voted to send a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection stating the city's opposition to the landfill. The landfill would sit about eight miles northeast of downtown and less than a mile from the Withlacoochee River and the Green Swamp, a protected, environmentally sensitive area. It would be across the street from Angelo's 30-acre construction debris landfill.

The council had 'concern over the potential for environmental hazards and water contamination that a Class I landfill would pose for the community,' the city's letter reads.

Sending the letter was largely ceremonial. The decision to grant Angelo's its permit rests with DEP regulators, who have been reviewing Angelo's application for almost a year, and with the county.

'Baloney' At Lunch, Official Says

Still, Angelo's wants the city to reconsider its stance.

'They weren't trying to pressure me,' said Councilman Luis Lopez, who was invited to lunch at Pancho's Villa Mexican restaurant in San Antonio about three weeks ago. There, he met with Angelo's Vice President Dominic Iafrate and project engineer John Arnold.

'Finally, after about 10 minutes of baloney talk, the main guy came out and said, 'This is why we brought you here. A lot of cities voted right away to get a letter to Tallahassee, saying they don't want it in their yard. This happened before anybody had a chance to hear from us. Is it possible for city council, would we rescind our letter of disapproval?' I said, 'That's not for me to decide,'' Lopez said.

Angelo's officials also met with Councilman Danny Burgess, who went on a tour of Angelo's construction debris landfill, and City Manager Steve Spina, who was invited to dinner at Manolo's Italian restaurant in Zephyrhills. Mayor Cliff McDuffie met with Angelo's officials at city hall a couple of months ago.

None of these meetings were illegal or unethical - just unusual because Zephyrhills has no authority to approve the project, Spina said. He said he felt uncomfortable when Angelo's officials asked to meet him in the restaurant's back room. He would have preferred if they had met him in his office.

Angelo's officials left a message for Councilwoman Celia Graham on her cell phone, but she hasn't heard from them since. Council President Kent Compton and Councilman Clyde Bracknell said company officials have not contacted them.

The issue for Angelo's is that council members voted to oppose the project after hearing only from a group of residents opposed to the landfill, said Arnold.

'It's never good when someone takes a position opposite of what you're proposing, especially if they didn't have the benefit of hearing from you,' Arnold said. 'What we've done is we've said, 'It would be nice if you could reconsider the letter you've written.''

Council Isn't Planning To Recant

None of the city council members interviewed this week said they planned to propose retracting their original stance. But Lopez and Burgess said they were impressed with the project after meeting with Angelo's officials.

Thursday, a local newspaper printed an opinion piece from Lopez about the landfill. Though Lopez did not specifically endorse the Angelo's project, he said it would use 'the latest environmentally approved technology in waste management.' Burgess, who in February pushed forward the vote to send the letter opposing the landfill, also seems to have had a change of heart.

'The way it was presented to me, it could save a lot of money for taxpayers,' he said. 'I saw the positives, something I hadn't seen before.

'Is it something you wish you didn't have to have? Of course. Who wants a pile of junk around? But in the long run, with the growth of the county, it's something we'll really need.'

The DEP's decision about whether to grant permits for the landfill could take several months. On July 31 and Sept. 5, two DEP departments sent dozens of pages of questions to Angelo's. The company has 90 days to respond to each department before the application moves forward.

If DEP approves the landfill, Pasco County also would have to sign off before Angelo's can start building the landfill.

Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or nwhite1@tampatrib.com.

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