OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — At least 140,000 tons of coal ash from Puerto Rico may make its way to Osceola County after county commissioners voted to host it for a fee.
- Osceola commissioners OK hosting coal ash from Puerto Rico
- Residents angry, concerned over potential environmental impact
- Officials said coal ash should not contaminate the county's water
Coal ash is a by-product of coal waste from power plants run by electric companies. It’s classified as non-hazardous by the Environmental Protection Agency but does contain contaminants such as mercury, arsenic, and lead, which may pollute air and drinking water.
The AES coal ash will be hosted at the JED landfill in St. Cloud, which is owned by Waste Connections.
Around 24 residents voiced their anger and concerns over the coal ash hosted in their county during a County Commissioners meeting.
"You empty a glass of water into Orlando and sooner or later, it will end up in the everglades. It may be in St. Cloud but what about the rest of the state?" Frank Rivera said.
AES and JED officials said it should not contaminate the county's water, because it will be contained in a double line landfill which meets Florida Department of Environmental Protection and EPA standards. They said they test the water to ensure it is safe.
“I come in contact with this product on a daily basis, my coworkers too," Elias Sostre AES Operations Manager said. "We are not sick, we are healthy."
Some residents said they were upset they learned about it through social media, not through their elected officials.
"I started reading about it, and I also became outraged, and I’ll do anything to stop this," Linda Balash, who lives eight miles from the landfill said. "Fred (Hawkins) forgets he works for us. Those commissioners work for us. We don’t work for them — they work for us. He’s going to be damaging his own political career."
Hawkins abstained from the April 1 vote because of a conflict of interest.
The county receives $2 per ton. In the contract, which end on December 31, there is no cap limit on how many tons can be imported into the county.
Around 40,000 tons were already brought to the private landfill.
An Osceola County spokesperson sent us this statement:
"Following public comment by more than two dozen citizens, the Osceola County Board of County Commissioners agreed to send a letter to Waste Connections, the private owner/operators of the JED landfill in Holopaw, seeking an update to the conditions of the April 1, 2019 contract addendum, which allows the landfill to accept coal ash from Puerto Rico."