ORLANDO, Fla. — An east Orange County community is demanding answers from leaders about a nearby landfill that creates a foul odor in their neighborhood.
The county has received at least 100 complaints from people who live at the Waterside Estates subdivision.
The homeowners have lived at the Waterside Estates for 13 years, where they barely noticed a smell from the nearby Yong Pine Landfill until the past few weeks.
“Saturday morning, you can’t even go outside,” said the homeowners.
“I mean, imagine like a rotting, nasty garbage smell, that’s what it smells like,” another resident, Daniel Myers said.
Residents said they’re not only worried about how the smell may affect their health, but their property values.
“We never know when the smell is going to be,” said a homeowner.
Residents from up to a mile and a half away are emailing those concerns to the county.
“We’ve been trying a lot, and we’re not satisfied yet,” said Jim Becker, manager of the Solid Waste Division.
Becker said the 15 inches of rain in August is making the fix difficult.
“This is saturated with water, and the water helps force the gas out,” said Becker.
Hiring consultants for advice, the county now separates construction and demolition debris from regular trash, a chemical mix believed to be a contributing factor in the odor built up.
It’s also added an odor mitigating mist system to the landfill’s ledge and weekly checks on sewer gas levels for hydrogen sulfide, which is the guilty compound in the stench.
“We will not stop working on this until we have these odors under control,” Becker.
“I just don’t want to come outside and smell that,” Myers said.
County officials said the gas levels at the landfill are lower than what the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires.
County officials plan to hold a community meeting next week.
Cox Media Group
