Escambia County Commissioner Lumon May plans to meet with federal Environmental Protection Agency officials during his trip to Washington, D.C., later this month to seek help in cleaning up and closing the Rolling Hills landfill that towers over the middle-class, mostly minority Wedgewood community.
The first term District 3 commissioner has already worked with Florida’s lawmakers, Department of Environmental Protection officials and state health department regulators. The DEP is in the process of shutting down the facility found to pollute surrounding residents’ air and water.
May pointed out that clean up of the site is estimated at $2.3 million.
“I plan on working with the EPA to see if we can get federal assistance,†May said. “We’ve had a good relationship with this administration. We’ll meet with the EPA to see what kind of federal help we can get. This is going to be costly to resolve. We have a long way to go.â€
May said Rolling Hills operators have been overlooked for decades, allowing environmental racism to persist.
“They’ve been unmonitored and unregulated for many years,†May said. “Abiding by our codes is a new and uncomfortable position for Rolling Hills. It’s time to get EPA involved. Our citizens need the opportunity to live in a clean and safe neighborhood.â€
This past weekend, Escambia County Waste Services, Environmental Code Enforcement, Public Safety and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection responded to a fire at the Rolling Hills Landfill in the Wedgewood community. County code enforcement and public safety staff noticed heavy smoke coming from the landfill area early this morning. After investigating, the source of the fire was identified as a large mound of land clearing debris located in the southeast area of the property designated for land clearing debris disposal.
The property owner mobilized manpower and equipment and was able to cover the fire while county crews remained on standby. Escambia County Environmental Code Enforcement posted a staff member to monitor the fire for the next 24 hours while a plan for any further needed fire suppression was made with the guidance of FDEP. Escambia County continues to work with the landfill owners and FDEP to implement a closure plan for the construction and demolition disposal portion of the site.
According to county official, the fire should not impact the levels of hydrogen sulfide gas, or H2S, in the Wedgewood Community. Escambia County’s Natural Resources Management Department has been working directly with local residents, and all data collected by the monitoring stations provides state and local officials with the tools necessary to evaluate the potential risk to public health and issue advisories as necessary. Residents can view the average and peak daily values of the gas online at http://myescambia.com/community/air-quality-monitoring. The data is updated every Friday.