‘When will this end?’: Residents decry landfill expansion plans as Broward vote is postponed

Lisa J. Huriash, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
·5 min read
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The final decision on whether Waste Management’s landfill will grow the size of a building in northern Broward will wait for another day.

Broward County commissioners postponed their vote Tuesday on whether to allow the Monarch Hill landfill to grow to as much as 325 feet tall and to also expand the width of the base. Waste Management said it needs the extra space because it needs to put the trash somewhere.

The delay came at the urging of the county attorney, who suggested putting it off for another meeting or two.

But the delay wasn’t before listening to hours of public outcry from residents and city leaders who said they would be affected by the expansion, which they argue would be too big. They spoke of their fear of water contamination and an impending “blanket of stink” as more odors potentially proliferate.

Deerfield Beach City Commissioner Bernie Parness urged the County Commission to wait until the master plan was completed by the Broward County Solid Waste Authority.

He argued standing at the top “now you can see the ocean. Add another 100 feet we’ll see who is playing tennis at a resort in the Bahamas,” he said.

The county’s debate is whether to allow the Monarch Hill landfill to grow to as much as 325 feet tall. A second county vote will be on Monarch Hill’s request to turn the former waste-to-energy incinerator’s 24.2-acre site there to become landfill space so it can expand at its base.

The landfill is at the Monarch Hill Renewable Energy Park, in an unincorporated part of the county next to Coconut Creek.

The landfill now is 210 feet and is currently permitted to go to 225 feet. The landfill is constructed like a pyramid, where it is built as a slope.

One Coconut Creek resident accused the county of “eco-cide,” arguing it wasn’t making the right environmental choices. “What did we do to you?” asked another woman. A spokeswoman for the Coral Springs Coconut Creek Regional Chamber of Commerce said the odor that already exists was already a problem. One local politician said pilots use the landfill as a landmark.

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“Waste Management is not proposing this because it makes sense,” said Hillel Cohen, a Wynmoor resident in Coconut Creek. “They are proposing it because it makes dollars.”

“The most important question remains: When will this end?” asked Coconut Creek City Commissioner Jeffrey Wasserman. “The truth if we allow this expansion to go forward the end is unclear we know that. Three years, six years, nine years, they’re going to want more.”

Deerfield Beach Mayor Bill Ganz accused the county of caving to Waste Management since the 1980s.

“You have the opportunity to break that cycle,” he said. Otherwise, “you are ignoring the pleas of your residents.”

The issue has been pending for years and it is a contentious one.

At a special Coconut Creek City Commission meeting Monday, commissioners unanimously agreed to turn down a $2.5 million offer from Waste Management. The offer called for $500,000 a year for five years, and an additional $10 million lump sum if the company were to ever made an application to increase the height again, according to city leaders.

Coconut Creek Commissioner Josh Rydell said the response was a resounding no: “The commission voted unanimously to keep fighting,” he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Deerfield’s Ganz called it “shut up money.”

“Coconut Creek couldn’t be bought and they should be applauded,” he told county commissioners.

But Waste Management officials warned the county that there could be six years left of life to the landfill.

“Monarch Hill has reached its last cell for development,” said Bill Laystrom, Waste Management’s attorney, told commissioners. And if there’s no place left to put trash, construction debris and bulk waste will be diverted to the Okeechobee Landfill — but that comes with a cost to taxpayers for workers and fuel to send it north. A presentation Tuesday estimated a $40 million annual cost passed on to Broward’s residents and businesses.

“We may rail it, we may truck it,” he warned.

Laystrom also told the county commissioners the landfill should be considered as though “this is like the airport or seaport.”

“There is only one place to put it here,” he said.

Deerfield Beach Vice Mayor Todd Drosky said “this is not a NIMBY,” referring to the “not in my backyard” slogan, because “the dump is already in our backyard, it’s there.”

But for years more homes have been built and “it is not fair to those residents who bought with the understanding it was 225 feet … that you are moving the goalposts. Let’s play Charlie Brown and move the goalposts. …”

But “325 feet is taller than the Statue of Liberty, taller than the Brooklyn Bridge.”

“Today you are going to prove if you are on the side of residents of Broward County or on the side of a large corporation.”

The Broward County Commission has the statutory obligation to provide garbage capacity, said Kevin Kelleher, assistant county administrator.

“The decision is this board’s,” he said. “The buck stops here.”

Andrew Meyers, the Broward County attorney, warned that a decision would have to be made. A county vote, which could be the final decision, is now expected Jan. 28.

“You can’t kick the can down the road months and months or years and years,” Meyers told commissioners.​ “We have to make a decision and it’s a hard decision.”

Commissioners said the right thing to do is to wait.

“If we don’t represent community, who do we represent,” said Commissioner Mark Bogen.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash