City Claims Recycler Illegally Filled Wetlands

City officials from Melbourne, Fla., claim they are convinced a recycling business that operates next to the county landfill illegally filled wetlands without city authorization.

A city land-use permit to the company calls for preserving wetlands on the 40-acre property. But the recycling company claims it has a state permit to perform the work.

City planning and zoning officials have inspected the site of Melbourne Landfill and Recycling Center and are convinced a violation occurred. On May 2, however, they were still trying to determine what codes were violated and what corrective action was needed.

"We now believe we will take them through the code enforcement process," City Attorney Paul Gougelman said. "Once we determine the exact violation, they will be notified and given a chance to correct it."

The case also likely will be referred to the state attorney's office for criminal investigation, Gougelman said.

Florida Recyclers of Brevard, which operates the business, said the company has a state permit for work that was done at the site.

"Any action taken by my clients Florida Recyclers, was done pursuant to a permit from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection," said Jim Fallace, an attorney for the company. "It is my clients' position that they operated the facility in accordance to that permit."

A Florida Department of Environmental Protection agent went to the site on May 1 and turned over the agency's inquiry to the departments regulatory division. A spokesman in the regulatory division in Orlando said old files and permits still had to be reviewed.

The company might have gotten a state permit, but a permit to operate the recycle center came with the condition that about half of the 40-acre site could not be used and that wetlands on the property be preserved, Gougelman said.

"It doesn't resolve the issue whether there has been a city code violation," Gougelman said.

The property is next to the county landfill. Some of the same principals in Florida Recyclers had sold 68 acres to the county for the landfill expansion. County commissioners called for an investigation after discovering the company unfairly profited on the $7.25 million sale.

The county also had recently been talking about buying another 40 acres that comprise the Melbourne Landfill and Recycling property at 3351 Sarno Road, but the negotiations were called off after the commission asked for an investigation into the prior sale, said Euripedes Rodriguez, Brevard County Solid Waste Department director.

Although negotiations were put on hold long before the investigation into allegations of the land-use violations surfaced, the county's purchase could depend on the outcome of the investigations, County Manager Tom Jenkins said.

Otherwise, it could expose the county to legal problems.

"That could certainly have an effect on whether the County Commission would have an interest," he said. Florida Today