[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6298698,"mediaKeyId","2501726-fd4bba810582a1daf43e53b199fa32a1","parentId",2501726,"title","Collier County workshop weighs landfill expansion, reclamation and emerging technologies for long‑term waste disposal","audioSeconds",3312,"startMs",6692000,"endMs",10004000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2501726-fd4bba810582a1daf43e53b199fa32a1&start=6692&end=10004","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2501726-fd4bba810582a1daf43e53b199fa32a1/thumbnail_6692000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6298698/Collier-County/Florida/Collier-County-workshop-weighs-landfill-expansion-reclamation-and-emerging-technologies-for-longterm-waste-disposal","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6298698-aea4b51bf988bab6af6cb59d201f499c/orig.mp4?Expires=1771157359&Signature=i-iTQX6DPaupmlu~9P0hTV~mGi1uA~P7Ose71Sv~~nnHeRSdtvAuCFxYw~kd0ta8Fj7wAtGbewLTNc-9yOdbGPrd28697r1oLLMO8zFD0vnjL23r0nkRSSkNnvCry4gPvdbdCA~uI-0mfoRLlOlR6KcXtVtA8CvxlXVFI-Y4h40H3f6iXLuddX4UpryjnkZ4p6idvydy4p5KBLiIcTjjbMyWiz8xNvtehAEfy5z1F4Wrr79hHuNqA0m1laiqygenXLsr0UE9~D9HYmde03wnJcm80VtrQ30yb6gvqkUzs5fNmghbuf7BUDR-3wimD33P0fXAcekDcxx3~alTvkDtiA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Collier County","date","2025-03-04T00:00:00Z","article","County solid‑waste staff and consultants told commissioners at the March 4 workshop that Collier County must decide how to secure long‑term disposal capacity and outlined a menu of options that range from pursuing new technology pilots to reclaiming and expanding in‑county disposal sites.

Kerry Hudson, director of Solid and Hazardous Waste, and Daniel Deitch, a solid‑waste planning consultant with SCS Engineers, said the county’s current strategy — high recycling rates and integrated services — has bought time, but the county should set policy direction now to avoid a future disposal crisis.

“Long‑term disposal is an important matter and critically important to secure a best‑value approach before the county faces a crisis,” Deitch told commissioners. He presented three recommended policy actions: amend county ordinance 2005‑54 to create a single solid‑waste district; align the landfill operating agreement with the integrated solid‑waste management strategy (including performance standards such as in‑place waste compaction); and pursue preferred options to control long‑range disposal capacity.

Staff presented four categories of disposal options:

- Out‑of‑county disposal: staff said moving all waste out of county would require significant transfer infrastructure, create traffic impacts (roughly 50 tractor‑trailers per 1,000 tons per day), and cost roughly 35% more than in‑county disposal. The nearest private landfill is about a two‑and‑a‑half‑hour drive.

- New landfill: siting a new, modern landfill can be less costly to operate than some conversion technologies but takes a long time to permit and faces public opposition. Historically, the last new municipal landfill in Florida opened in 1998 (Sarasota County).

- Technology conversion (thermal or other conversion technologies): Deitch said the only proven large‑scale thermal conversion systems in the U.S. are mass‑burn and refuse‑derived fuel facilities; he cited Palm Beach County’s nearly $700 million mass‑burn plant as an example of a major capital investment. The county issued a request for expressions of interest to evaluate emerging approaches but concluded many newer technologies have not been demonstrated at commercial scale processing commingled municipal solid waste.

- Landfill reclamation and optimization of existing sites: staff described past reclamation work at the Collier County Landfill and noted Immokalee Landfill — an older, unlined 120‑acre site with about 20 acres used for disposal — as a potential redevelopment candidate. Reclaiming and reconfiguring Immokalee could reduce an environmental liability and create on‑site disposal capacity. Staff also outlined a potential “eastern optimization” contiguous to the Collier County Landfill that, in staff estimates, could provide very long‑term capacity (staff presented a conceptual estimate approaching centuries of capacity if developed at large scale) but would require land acquisition, LDC/PUD modifications and permit amendments and could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Deitch and staff said other near‑term steps would improve existing operations: set compaction performance standards in the landfill operating agreement to preserve airspace, secure more flexible long‑term disposal agreements with regional landfill operators (including for disaster debris), and move support operations to a designated Resource Recovery Business Park.

Commissioners asked questions about costs, scalability and pilot projects. Commissioner Hall asked whether the county could host a small‑scale pilot of an emerging technology and then scale up if successful; staff said the county has issued solicitations to identify potential partners and that a pilot could be accommodated in a business park area with contractual safeguards. Commissioner McDaniel and others asked for concrete analyses of how many additional years of capacity various options would provide; staff said annual capacity projections are part of the county’s existing annual landfill reports and that more detailed life‑of‑site estimates would be prepared if the board desires further study.

Several specific figures and tradeoffs were discussed during the workshop: staff said out‑of‑county disposal is roughly 35% more expensive than in‑county disposal; Palm Beach County built a mass‑burn waste‑to‑energy facility at nearly $700 million; staff described an eastern expansion scenario that consultants estimated could require significant capital (hundreds of millions) to realize long‑term capacity; and staff noted that reclaiming or reconfiguring Immokalee would require engineering, permitting and potentially land acquisition but could repurpose native soil and screened materials generated during reclamation.

The commissioners provided direction but did not adopt formal policy at the workshop. Staff were asked to return with more detailed feasibility analyses and to proceed with two near‑term tasks: drafting amendments to county ordinance 2005‑54 to create a single solid‑waste district and preparing recommended amendments to the landfill operating agreement (including compaction and other performance measures). Commissioners also asked staff to evaluate reclamation and redevelopment of the Immokalee site and to provide feasibility estimates and cost ranges for south/north on‑site expansions that would leverage land the county already owns.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Board of County Commissioners - Budget Workshop (3-4-2025)","oneSentenceSummary","County staff and consultants told commissioners that Collier’s integrated solid‑waste strategy has deferred immediate crisis but that policy choices are needed now: amend the ordinance to unify waste districts, align the landfill operating agreement to protect airspace, and study in‑county options including Immokalee reclamation, on‑site optimization and technology pilots.","taxTitle","Collier County, Florida","taxId",12758,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6298703,"Collier County staff, residents debate Clam Pass dredging, seek advisory panel and permit renewal",3150,147000,3297000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2501726-fd4bba810582a1daf43e53b199fa32a1&start=147&end=3297","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2501726-fd4bba810582a1daf43e53b199fa32a1/thumbnail_147000.jpg","/articles/6298703/Collier-County/Florida/Collier-County-staff-residents-debate-Clam-Pass-dredging-seek-advisory-panel-and-permit-renewal","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6298703-0e82b36420a117577c9922a6a4822aee/orig.mp4?Expires=1771157359&Signature=NvWDO1PXNhplfkr6LG7uW08PmxBYu7jDhVPrOi5g9nNgAtKuwIzMHtpqciEB5F5fh5NHSVC-72kotAR9HTDmSg7L6DxcJlGkBXGqCxE0HqZUym1pnfMCzEYF-D8bLiKgTVeFjqq~5mn2rSb-2LZz6YMp7lMyRR3MefEzG-HDJ3lwBQZXP2N4J1th7lrJgZH-FVq7mdO47KRXLcsnFUa909CF~JP3pI4t2ojtsIcFI3RfhmQI2~~iFOKkcx9lx66r9doCxtxZETdH~DJCiNaBH~u~t96T5sciDpjkvtL6~iEIYMNObcgjGf09LUiJAz5~1~X0GelH2JFQk3YAubJEzw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Neil Dorril, a Pelican Bay Services Division representative, told the Collier County Board of County Commissioners at its March 4 workshop that the county's management plan and permits guide dredging at Clam Pass and that renewal of federal and state permits is underway.

Dorril said the most recent bathymetric surveys, completed in January–February, show about 10,000 cubic yards of sand in the inlet — down from a historical high of about 20,000 cubic yards when Clam Pass closed in February 2012 — and that the county’s engineers recommend waiting until the fall, after sea‑turtle nesting season, to conduct a maintenance dredge rather than rushing work now.

The discussion matters because Clam Pass is designated the county’s first Natural Resource Protection Area (NRPA) and its management plan, adopted by the Board of County Commissioners in February 2015, ties dredging permits to specific design and fill templates. Dorril said those permits historically have allowed both mechanical and occasional hydraulic dredging; the system has been dredged mechanically about seven times and hydraulically several times since the late 1990s.

“The most recent bathymetric surveys showed that there’s currently about 10,000 cubic yards of material in the system,” Dorril said. He added that the typical design dredge cut ranges between 4½ and 5½ NAVD and that the current tide range remains adequate to sustain flushing, so staff do not plan a pre‑nesting‑season hydraulic dredge.

Residents who live adjacent to Clam Pass pressed for different actions. Patrick Black, president of the Seagate Association, said residents feel they lack representation in decisions affecting the bay’s water quality and ecological health and asked the commission to create a Clam Bay advisory committee to advise the county on dredging, water quality and management.

Other residents urged more regular dredging and independent technical work. Susan Devoe, a Seagate board member, said her association funded an independent analysis by Taylor Engineering and summarized three recommendations: an annual planned dredge before the May 1 start of sea‑turtle nesting season; more consistent use of the entire allowable dredge area rather than partial cuts; and computer modeling of alternate dredge configurations, which Devoe said would cost about $75,000.

Pelican Bay and county consultants described monitoring that triggers response. Project engineer Mohammed Abis of Hamster and Moore Engineers told the commissioners the county maintains tide gauges and regular bathymetric surveys and that staff recommend intervention when measured cross‑sectional area of flow through critical sections is reduced. Jeremy Stirk, an environmental consultant, said mangrove losses since Hurricane Ian and other storms have caused localized stress but that many affected areas show recovery in year‑to‑year monitoring.

Commissioners and staff discussed short‑ and long‑term steps. Staff committed to: share the new bathymetric survey results with Seagate and Naples Cay; renew the county’s maintenance permits (staff said permit renewal is underway and that the permitting cycle now moves toward 15‑year permits, not 10); evaluate reasonable permit amendments or modeling alternatives through a formal amendment process; and examine options for sand placement templates that had been enlarged in recent permit amendments.

Chair and several commissioners signaled support for a formal advisory process. The commission asked County Manager Amy Patterson to work with the county attorney to return with an agenda item to consider forming a Clam Bay advisory committee to advise the board and Pelican Bay Services Division on water quality, dredging and ecological issues. Patterson agreed to bring back proposed language.

Residents and consultants noted points county staff said they will incorporate into follow‑up work: the importance of the NRPA and its ecological objectives, the potential role of adjacent city drainage and canal maintenance in water quality, and the tradeoffs between larger or more frequent dredges and impacts to seagrass and other regulated resources.

The commissioners did not take formal action at the workshop; the discussion concluded with direction to staff to renew existing permits, provide the recent survey results to stakeholders, and return with options for advisory body creation and technical analyses.

","County and Pelican Bay officials described Clam Pass monitoring and permitting history and recommended waiting until after sea‑turtle season to dredge; residents urged annual dredging, independent modeling and broader stakeholder representation. The commission asked staff to return with options including an advisory committee and permit renewals.","actionData","errors"]

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Collier County workshop weighs landfill expansion, reclamation and emerging technologies for long‑term waste disposal

Collier County staff, residents debate Clam Pass dredging, seek advisory panel and permit renewal