DORAL, Fla. – The trash chief warned about the possibility of a landfill crisis when he resigned from his post on Monday in Miami-Dade County.
Michael J. Fernandez, the former director of Miami-Dade County’s Department of Solid Waste Management, sent his resignation letter to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
In it, Fernandez warned that if landfill expansions are not considered the county could be in violation of a law that requires a capacity for five years of waste.
“At this point, the County will have to issue a moratorium to stop all development in Miami-Dade County as of next year,” Fernandez wrote in his five-page letter.
The landfill expansions were necessary after a fire shut down the county’s Resources Recovery Facility waste-to-energy plant in February, in Doral.
Before the fire damaged the incinerator that had been burning more than half of the county’s trash, there was a master plan proposed two years ago. The sites for the new landfills had yet to be identified.
According to Levine Cava’s office, the plan is in the works to present to commissioners later this year and there are plenty of wary neighborhoods among the stakeholders.
“You are right. Nobody wants this in their backyard,” said Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid, who is considering a run for county mayor.
Fernandez also wrote that Miami-Dade County has a $40 million deficit in the Solid Waste Management’s collections fund, so there is a need to increase a household fee.
The short-term fix is working, Fernandez wrote, but not for the long term.
Miami-Dade County’s Chief Operations Officer Jimmy Morales, who oversees the Department of Solid Waste Management, sent Local 10 News the following memo:
This administration is keenly aware of the complex challenges our community faces around solid waste management and disposal, which were significantly exacerbated by the fire at the waste-to-energy plant earlier this year.
Since taking office, Mayor Levine Cava has convened private and public sector partners to develop a much-needed comprehensive solid waste strategy that meets our growing community’s waste disposal needs now and in the future. This plan is meant to prioritize sustainability and zero waste initiatives that both reduce our carbon footprint and save taxpayers money in the long term.
We are well aware of the urgent need to expand our disposal capacity to stay in line with County development requirements given the impacts of the plant fire, and have already brought this concern to the Board of County Commissioners. These are major decisions with long-lasting implications for our community, and in the weeks ahead we look forward to bringing forward updates and policy decisions for the Board’s consideration.
The Mayor today announced the appointment of Solid Waste Deputy Director Olga Espinosa-Anderson, a leader in the department with a nearly 35 career in the county, as interim director for the department, and we will continue working closely hand-in-hand with her on these critical efforts. We look forward to identifying a new permanent director committed to helping solve the pressing challenges before us.
We remain committed to building a solid waste plan that works for our growth, our environment, and most importantly, our residents.
Additionally, Levine-Cava sent the following memo to Local 10 News:
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