MARION COUNTY, Fla. — A new composting facility in Marion County may be environmentally friendly, but neighbors still want the county to shut it down. Neighbors say the facility on 73rd Street (see map) stinks, but the owner told WFTV he doesn't know why neighbors are complaining because he's right next to two landfills.
Doug Mumford spends a lot of time out in the yard, but lately he says it hasn't been easy.
"It's like living by a treatment plant, a regular sewage treatment plant," Mumford said.
Mumford and his neighbors say the business right down the street smells.
"To me, it doesn't. I'm here every day. I'll ask you that question. Do you smell anything?" said Glen Stewart, owner of Compost USA.
Stewart owns Compost USA, which is on 22 acres. He and six employees process wood mulch, soiled horse bedding and sludge into a type of fertilizer. The finished product looks like dirt and it smells like dirt. The facility produces up to 20,000 tons of it every year.
"Golf courses want it, football fields, county parks," Stewart said. "Makes it green."
But after a number of calls about smelly sludge and horse stable waste, Marion County has threatened to revoke Compost USA's permit to operate. Stewart was surprised by the complaints, since his business is within walking distance of two landfills.
But Mumford says he can tell the difference.
"It's not the large landfill smell we're getting," Mumford said.
Mumford claims he can't smell the dumps, but he says he does smell the compost.
"I have nothing against people making money. Why not haul it to a big facility in a horse farm where they can set this operation up and be away from residential areas?" he questioned.
County officials will meet next month to decide whether to revoke the compost facility's operating permit. The owner plans to file a lawsuit to stop them.