Anthony Johnson: BOCC faces a dilemma regarding Florence landfill

Letter to the editor

The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) is facing another dilemma. They have to choose between equality and equity in their decision-making on the fate of the Florence landfill. Their actions illustrate how complex the implementation of these two almost synonymous words can be.

The Florence landfill on Southeast 15th Street in Gainesville has reached critical mass, and the BOCC knows it. Environmental injustice is unfolding before their eyes, but they are hesitant to take action because of the sensitive nature of the problem.

The relevant history behind the landfill 

Gainesville had its version of white flight during the turbulent ’60s, too.  

In Gainesville, black residents saw an opportunity to improve their circumstances by purchasing homes in neighborhoods where white families once lived. Eastside communities like Robinson Heights, Breezy Acres, and Kincaid Hills were desirable communities in the 1960s; master builder G. Wayne Robinson himself resided there.

One man’s dream of moving up often leads to another man’s dream of moving out; this is how the American Dream operates. The driving force of envy is a fundamental motivation for achieving success.

However, the County government is supposed to be impartial towards communities in the face of it all.  

When the whites left those fine communities in southeast Gainesville for greener pastures, the City planners didn’t see any reason why it shouldn’t issue an operating permit for a small dump in the heart of those fine communities. Fast forward to today, and now that small dump has become a full-blown Construction and Demolition (C&D) landfill that is an existential threat to all those once fine communities. 

Was the establishment of the dump some type of scorched earth strategy by the planners? Home values have definitely been adversely affected to no end because of the landfill.

Environmental injustice in Alachua County is a political third rail. Even though it is a ghost from the past, it still haunts today’s political leaders. Politicians inherently believe that the strategic reasons for creating the dump must always take priority over any bleeding-heart kneejerk reactions they may have about relocating it.

Every five years, public outcry falls on deaf ears when the landfill applies to renew its permit with the BOCC. This renewal also allows the landfill to grow bigger to accommodate the reconstruction of Gainesville. 

Although the dump is located in the city of Gainesville, the area has been gerrymandered into the unincorporated area of the county. Therefore, the City Commission is happy to have no jurisdiction over it.

Since this issue only affects residents of southeast Gainesville, the rest of the city—including those participating every January in the symbolic feel-good MLK Day social justice march and the exclusionary zoning advocates—couldn’t care less about this local modern-day community-wide injustice.

The landfill is just 1.7 miles from Depot Park, and due to its height, toxic dust plumes can reach the park under certain windy conditions.

The BOCC is caught between a rock and a hard place. They must choose between an equality solution or an equitable solution for the residents of southeast Gainesville.

EQUALITY DREAMS

The BOCC Comprehensive Plan (Community Health Element) could be amended to prohibit landfills from operating in all residential areas of the county. This change would promote equality, as it would ensure all communities are equally free of landfills to comply with the updated Comprehensive Plan.

All the C&D debris from several large upcoming demolition projects in Gainesville is slated for southeast Gainesville. Health and safety are of no concern to the people making this decision because it will be just another personal southeast Gainesville problem.

Again, a simple change to the County’s Comprehensive Plan could promote County equality towards communities by prohibiting the practice of dumping in all residential areas.

Another equality solution would involve designating areas in westside communities to receive an equal share of the thousands of tons of debris containing moldy drywall, lead paint, and asbestos, from the University of Florida’s planned demolition of Maguire Village as a temporary solution until a permanent solution can be found for the Florence landfill. However, such an action by the board could provoke a strong backlash.

EQUITY SAVES

The BOCC decided to go with equity as a solution.

After several decades of pumping up the dump, the BOCC has suddenly become frustrated and recommends monitoring the air quality every 15 minutes over six-month intervals to assess the situation. This will give the BOCC something tangible to take to the bureaucrats at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). 

The board believes it would be helpful to identify the exact source of the toxins in the landfill for FDEP, rather than merely stating that the landfill is the source of toxins. They opted to pay three times more to have definitive air samples to pinpoint whether toxins exist and, if so, show the exact locations in the landfill that are producing these toxins.

(You can’t make this stuff up)

It’s like someone asking during an active shooter event, “Does anyone know if the shooter’s gun is registered?”

What difference does air quality make? It’s a landfill in a residential neighborhood, you fool.

The BOCC is attempting to deflect responsibility by placing the monkey on FDEP’s back.

This equitable BOCC solution allows for two potential outcomes: FDEP finds the air quality satisfactory, making the landfill legal so it continues business as usual, or the air quality is deemed poor but not illegal, so there is no legitimate reason to close the dump. Either way, the residents of southeast Gainesville can now be lifted up and hailed as the first black community to have certified air quality in the state, something that they deserve and should be very thankful to the BOCC for.

THE FACTS

• Injecting FDEP into this local problem isn’t necessary. 
• Painting a rosy picture of what the landfill could look like after it is closed is irrelevant at this time.
• The immediate priority is to prevent the landfill from expanding; the future of the site can be addressed when the time comes after it is closed.
• The BoCC holds all the cards when it comes to the fate of this landfill.
• The BoCC has devoted a superfluous amount of valuable time and resources to the Florence landfill that should have been spent on something the entire county could benefit from, like economic development.  

EMINENT DOMAIN

In Florida, eminent domain gives the government the power to take your property, even if you don’t want to sell. Health and Safety are the two most common reasons why eminent domain is used against businesses in Florida.

The BOCC has bought thousands of acres in some of the most remote areas of the county, land it doesn’t know what to do with. 

Eminent domain in this case would work like this: the County would present the landfill owner a parcel of land twice the size of what they are operating on now. Relocating the landfill will incur very little overhead due to the nature of the business. No changes to the address or websites are needed, there is minimal inventory to relocate, and there will be no loss of customers as a result of the move.

The BoCC is planning to allocate taxpayer money for air quality monitoring that could eventually run into millions of dollars. Instead, this money could be offered to the owners of the landfill, along with the free land, as a goodwill gesture to encourage them to relocate the landfill to a more suitable location to close this chapter once and for all. If the owner refuses to accept such a generous offer, then start the eminent domain proceedings. 

Florida HB 1567 (2006)  gives the BOCC police powers to address properties that actually pose a danger to public health or safety.

Chapter 316 STATE UNIFORM TRAFFIC CONTROL states that large trucks traveling on county roads with lanes 11ft wide or less violate FDOT safety regulations.

Anthony Johnson, Gainesville

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