GET THE FACTS: Odor Concerns in Doral

GET THE FACTS: Odor Concerns in Doral

The Mayor and Council, along with City Administration and staff, share in the community’s concerns. We are working to respond to these concerns and exploring any issues to identify possible solutions. That is why the collaboration with residents, businesses and the pertinent agencies is imperative. It is also key that everyone remain informed with the facts and that misinformation is clarified.

Background

• The Medley landfill is NOT located within the City of Doral – it is in the Town of Medley. The Medley landfill is one of only three landfills servicing the nearly 2000 square miles and 2.6 million residents of Miami-Dade County.
• The Covanta Resources Recovery plant is within the Doral City limits. This plant’s function is essential in reducing solid waste that would otherwise go into the landfill. Miami Dade county designated the Covanta facility as an “Area or Facility of Countywide Significance” (AFCS). This means the city has no legal authority to pass any ordinance banning the operations of the resource recovery facility.
• Emissions from these facilities are closely monitored by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resources and Management. The latter investigates both the landfill and recovery facility. Both the Medley landfill and the Covanta Resources Recovery facility have been operating for more than 30 years.
• The City requires that developers selling houses within a ½ mile of the Covanta Resource Recovery facility provide buyers with a disclosure entitled: Notification of Proximity of Solid Waste Facility Acknowledgement Waiver and Release.

Recent Actions Taken

• Although the Medley landfill is outside of Doral city limits and the recovery facility is a designated Facility of Countywide Significance, putting it outside of the City’s authority, City officials have taken the following actions to find viable solutions to the odors affecting our City:
  • In 2017, An Environmental Task Force comprised of stakeholders in the community was created by City officials. They held several public meetings to review the facts and collect data to make recommendations to City Officials.
  • In January 2018, the City of Doral submitted a formal complaint against the landfill and the waste-to-energy facility to the FDEP based on the amount of complaints that the City has received in the past several years. Since then, FDEP’s email was been added to the distribution list of the City’s 311 Odor Complaint & Hotline Complaints to receive notifications.
  • On November 7, 2018, the City of Doral met with representatives from FDEP - Southeast District – West Palm Beach to be updated on the items discussed in their regional meetings with the facilities regarding Odor concerns. FDEP Compliance Division conducted drive-through inspections and air samplings throughout the City and air samples were found to be within the acceptable range of reduced sulfur compounds (RSC’s). They requested from the Covanta facility to provide an Odor Remediation Program.
  • In early 2019, an initial Air, Water and Soil Quality Study was performed by the City of Doral to collect and analyze samples in order to quantify reduced sulfur and volatile organic compounds that are typically associated with objectionable odors in the vicinity of the waste-to-energy and the landfill facilities. They also performed screening measurements possibly being emitted from soils and/or bodies of water surrounding the facilities.
  • In August 2019, the City filed a petition to oppose the Medley landfill’s proposal to expand. The City is currently waiting on FDEP to assign the matter to a hearing officer. This matter is ongoing.
  • Another round of studies was approved at the October 8, 2019 Council Meeting for the City of Doral to conduct additional environmental sampling for the purpose of data collection that will help the City evaluate the composition of odors.
  • The City continues to encourage residents to report odors being experienced through 311 on the City’s website -  https://www.cityofdoral.com/311/! This will help us greatly during this time of testing to identify the “hot spots” and investigate the complaints in real time. These reports also go to both facilities.
     
• Both facilities can be reached through the following contacts:
   
  • Medley Landfill:
    Waste Management
    Mr. Henry F. Sori, Government Relations
     3401 NW 110 Street
    Miami, FL 33167
     hsori@wm.com
     
  • Waste to Energy Facility:
    Covanta Dade Renewable Energy LLC/Covanta Lee
     6990 NW 97th Ave
    Doral, FL 33178
     305-593-7113
     wmeredith@covanta.com

For additional information, please contact Maggie Santos, Communications & Protocol Manager, at  Maggie.santos@cityofdoral.com.

 Facts en español