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Compost Rules May Be Lifted

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By LINDSAY PETERSON

lpeterson@tampatrib.com

Published: October 5, 2008

ORLANDO - The state Department of Environmental Protection wants to make it easier for people to dispose of wood and food waste on their properties and is considering lifting some regulations.

Tracking violators is "a waste of our time," said DEP Assistant General Counsel Chris McGuire. He and other DEP officials were in Orlando last week to hear comments on revising state rules on composting operations. The state wants to reduce regulations on farmers who make compost from yard waste, manure and vegetative waste, such as unused food from grocery stores.

But the president of Mothers Organics, a commercial composting operation in Hillsborough, warned that people who make money operating wood and food waste dumps will exploit the new rule.

The state isn't distinguishing between legitimate farmers and for-profit waste dumps, Pete Nelson said. "People take money and let this stuff sit and never use it" for farming.

He noted a Wimauma site, where a property owner took wood mulch from solid waste facilities in Hillsborough and Manatee counties, receiving $30 per truckload for hundreds of loads. The state allows a property owner to take mulch without a permit, as long as it doesn't exceed 2 feet in height. But mulch piles on the 60-acre Wimauma site grew to more than 6 feet. When the county Environmental Protection Commission tried to get the property manager to comply with the 2-foot rule, he obtained a state exemption, saying he planned to grow palms in the mulch.

The county agency signed an agreement with him and he has four months to get the mulch down to 5 feet.

Reporter Lindsay Peterson can be reached at (813) 259-7834.

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