Escambia Shuts Down Rolling Hills Landfill

May 16, 2015

Escambia County is enforcing a special magistrate special order stopping the flow of trucks and the disposal of debris at the Rolling Hills Construction and Demolition Debris Landfill on Rolling Hills Road.

The company “has addressed at least some of the concerns outlined in the Magistrate’s order, Escambia County finds that Rolling Hills is not in full compliance with the Special Magistrate’s March 13, 2015 Final Order. Based on that finding, the County has asked for the Sheriff’s assistance in enforcing the Magistrate’s order,” according to a county statement.

Work will still be allowed to occur at the facility in order to mitigate odor issues, reduce the mound and to complete screening to shield the landfill from the neighborhood.

The special magistrate’s order found that Rolling Hills violated numerous county code provisions during the past year, including:

  1. Discharging a nuisance odor beyond its property
  2. Failing to properly cover landfill to deprive debris of oxygen to prevent emission of offensive odors and reduce the threat of fire inside the landfill
  3. Exceeding the height restriction of the facility’s permit
  4. Allowing the landfill mound to become visible from beyond the property line
  5. Accepting land-clearing debris in unpermitted areas

In the ruling, the special magistrate gave Rolling Hills specific instructions to address and correct the violations, including an order to immediately stop certain violations, instructions to address other violations and a timeline in which the corrective actions must be completed.

On Thursday, May 14, inspection of the site and the surrounding area by code enforcement officers and Community and Environment Department scientists observed nuisance odors above acceptable levels. The nuisance odor was not only observed by members of County staff, it was detected with the of hydrogen sulfide meter – which registered a maximum level of 35 parts per billion.

Also during Thursday’s inspection, Rolling Hills’ staff confirmed that the height of the mound was still above the permitted height of 130 feet.

Additionally, Code Enforcement and Community and Environment staff noted three areas where the mound was still visible from beyond the property line.

Escambia County Code Enforcement and the County’s Department of Community and Environment will continue to monitor the situation at Rolling Hills and initiate any action it deems necessary to ensure compliance with the Special Magistrate’s ruling, the county said.

Comments

6 Responses to “Escambia Shuts Down Rolling Hills Landfill”

  1. FaithinUS on May 18th, 2015 1:47 pm

    If people learned to Reduce, ReUSE and Recycle waste in all its forms, there wouldn’t be as much need for landfills in the first place.
    It’s pretty surprising that people who live ‘in the country’ don’t think more of the environment and do more to protect it:

    Reusable Shopping Bags– they’re not just for tree-huggers
    Bottled Water– the most ridiculous way ever thought of to spend $1 or more
    …and contribute to mounds of garbage in landfills.
    Downed trees cut into firewood, or run thru a chipper to make mulch to help your plants survive with less water, will keep that out of the landfill.

    And don’t forget – “One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Treasure”!

  2. M in bratt on May 17th, 2015 10:35 am

    I guess the county especially doesn’t like it because it is in direct competition with the high priced county landfill, and charges about 1/3 what the county charges. I’d love a business where I could shut down the competition, and charge what I wanted to. Now if they can keep carriers from crossing the county or state line, they will have the market cornered.

  3. Landfill on May 17th, 2015 9:20 am

    No one wants a landfill by them… But we need them!!! We now have only one open landfill, if a hurricane hits our area we are going to be big trouble… Go to the county landfill now and wait in line to dump….. Saturday long lines…. So all this debris the storm cause will be setting on our properties vacant lots for months and months… Storm debris will be at a stand still!!! Trash on the side of the road will be there for weeks because no place to dump… Get ready for rats at the curb site!!!

  4. Mark T on May 16th, 2015 11:34 pm

    Landfills should be County owned only, No private landfills !

  5. GENE on May 16th, 2015 9:11 pm

    This Land fill was put in the heart of Neighborhoods that have been here for years.

  6. Jr on May 16th, 2015 12:56 am

    Question:

    Were these houses there before the landfill? Or after?

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News