Air quality being monitored at Coyote Landfill in Navarre
Environmental officials have installed an air-monitoring network at nine locations around Coyote Landfill in Navarre to try to find out why the air near the landfill stinks.
Preliminary results from the first three weeks of testing are in, but the results are inconclusive until data can be assessed, said Sally Cooey, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection in Pensacola.
Federal and state environmental agencies have still not confirmed what the odor is, but DEP officials say they have an idea. And it may not be only Coyote at the heart of the problem. Other abandoned landfills in the area could be contributing, she said.
But Howard Jones, chairman of Holley Action Group — a community group formed in response to the longstanding problems at the landfill — said he disagrees.
Jones said that hydrogen sulfide is heavier than air, and when the weather is crisp and the air is damp, the gas gets carried down the hill into residential neighborhoods.
Hydrogen sulfide, released during decomposition of drywall left in construction and demolition landfills, is toxic if the concentration reaches high enough levels.
“The county landfill near Coyote has been closed for 10 years,” Jones said. “They took household garbage and probably construction debris, but there were no smells until after the hurricanes. The fires in 2005 at Coyote got things going really bad.”
Jones said efforts by his group and others have resulted in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placing nine monitors around the area.
“The goals of the air monitoring are to measure the concentrations and, as much as possible, to determine the sources of hydrogen sulfide gas,” Cooey said. “The air-monitoring period is still ongoing and recent data is preliminary.”
Weather conditions, vital in determining where the emissions are originating from, have not been analyzed yet, Cooey said.
The monitors are set to gather air-quality data for two 30-day periods, one of which is almost concluded. The other begins in January.
The DEP did not have the necessary equipment to test the air around Coyote Landfill, so the agency went to the EPA for help.
Cooey said hydrogen sulfide emission was not common in Northwest Florida, but thanks to hurricanes Ivan and Dennis, that changed when tons of debris from crushed homes and fallen trees had to be moved from hurricane-damaged sites.
The odor is still present on State Road 87 east of the landfill. Whether or not it exists in amounts detrimental to neighbors has yet to be determined.