News of the Nature Coast of Florida

Visitors to the Citrus County Central Landfill off State Road 44 will be seeing a considerable amount of land moving taking place on the west side of the facility now that a contractor has begun work on that area.

Solid Waste Director Casey Stephens said the work is being done on the old seven-acre landfill cell that was closed in late 1990.

Such cells begin to subside as time goes on, and the state requires landfills to maintain the integrity of the caps following closure of the cell. The county commission awarded Belair Excavating the contract for the $1.3 million project.

The work is not unusual for old cells, Stephens said, and is part of the ongoing maintenance required at a landfill by the state. The project is funded by the landfill’s Capital Improvement Project Fund.

Stephens said the work is going well and will take about three to six months ito complete. Included in the project will be installation of a methane gas collection system for the active portion of the landfill, as well as upgrading and enhancements to the stormwater collection system.

While such projects are regulatory requirements, the gas collection can also be used to offset some of the county’s carbon footprint by obtaining greenhouse gas credits, Stephens said.