The price of trash

How Omni Waste became active community members in an effort to sell their proposed Charlotte County landfill site

 
Charlotte Sun
May 14, 2007
 
NEIL HUGHES
Staff Writer

 

Call it the politics of garbage.

Because no one wants a trash dump in their backyard, major solid waste companies like Omni Waste must play the public relations game and offer financial incentives in order for a landfill site to be even considered.

It's just part of why all landfills are inevitably controversial.

As Omni Waste of Charlotte County's proposed landfill site in East County comes to a vote before the County Commission this Tuesday, the now Punta Gorda-based company and its representatives have already done all they could to inform, educate, lobby and persuade local officials and community members.

Omni Waste president Tim Salopek even admitted during a presentation at an April School Board workshop, "We're out doing these dog-and-pony shows wherever we can."

They've also given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the local community, to nonprofit organizations and the campaigns of Charlotte County elected officials. Millions more have been pledged if the landfill is approved.

In fact, Omni Waste officials have been active in Charlotte County for years now, donating money and making connections, all leading up to the County Commission's decision set for Tuesday.

 

Two landfills, one big difference

Ken Cargill has done this before. As the chief engineer of Omni Waste, he knows all about the effort that goes into selling the idea of a landfill to a community.

The central problem, he said, is education.

"We think we've got the ideal site here," Cargill said. "It's centrally located to the region that we want to serve. We know how to build the right kind of facility. When people are educated to have confidence in our abilities, then we can continue."

Education and misinformation were the problem when a similar landfill in Osceola County was rejected by that county's commissioners, Cargill said. Omni Waste then filed a lawsuit, the issue was resolved in court, and the landfill opened in 2001.

"In the end, the commissioners supported it 100 percent," Cargill said. "There was initial opposition because of a lack of education. It was the first time they were asked to do something that was this different, I guess. I suspect that the commissioners here (in Charlotte County) are going to have the same kind of a gut-wrenching decision. The lawsuit was just an easy way for them to get it done, I guess. We don't plan on that happening here."

Though he said his county has a great working relationship with Omni Waste's landfill, Osceola County Commissioner Ken Shipley acknowledged that the Charlotte County Commission must make a difficult decision.

Though the two landfills are similar, the situation is different. Osceola County was in need of another landfill to dump its garbage. The proposed Charlotte County Omni Waste site would be used for waste from at least eight nearby counties -- but not Charlotte.

"I understand and have sympathy and empathy for the commissioners who are having to make this decision," said Shipley, who was on the board when the Osceola landfill opened in 2001. "It's going to be a tough one."

Just recently, Osceola County was presented with a check for $900,000 in quarterly revenue from the landfill. Of the $25 per ton of trash Omni Waste earns, more than $2 goes to the county's general fund.

The same offer has been made to Charlotte County. Omni Waste says it would guarantee the county more than $2 million in additional funding per year.

"They make a very environmentally sensitive fill," Shipley said. "Here (in Osceola County), they've done extremely well with it. I can see now Charlotte County's concern is you're going to bring garbage in from other places. The question would be: Does Charlotte County need the revenue? I can't answer that."

 

Omni's public support

Most officials agree: The idea of a landfill is not appealing.

"Building a landfill is kind of like building a jail," said Osceola County Commissioner Paul Owen. "Nobody wants it in their back yard."

Omni Waste's Cargill shared a similar sentiment.

"Nobody wants a landfill in their back yard, but that's my business," Cargill said. "That's what I'm good at."

Yet Charlotte County Commissioner Adam Cummings said he's received letters and phone calls supporting the landfill from many of the county's residents.

"I would say that they have done a very good job of building public support for their project," Cummings said. "We've received e-mails and so-forth from a lot of folks around the county saying that this is a good project."

Omni Waste has sent letters to the many programs and nonprofits it has supported over the last few years, asking the organizations to contact the County Commission and express support for the proposed landfill.

One letter sent to the Sun on May 7 from Salopek included the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all five commissioners. Omni Waste donated $3,500 over the past two years to the Charlotte County Open golf tournament, of which some proceeds go toward the Sun's participation in the Florida Newspaper in Education program, which provides newspapers for schools. Omni Waste also donated $750 directly to the Sun's NIE-related programs.

Omni Waste has pledged more to the county, including the $2-plus million a year, if the landfill is approved. For each ton collected at $25, $2.62 goes back to the community in various forms.

"That's over 10 percent off of the top," Cargill said. "Not off of the profit, but off of the top."

Twenty-five cents for every ton of waste disposed at the site would go to the Charlotte Local Education Foundation. At roughly 4,000 tons anticipated per day, the donations would amount to $290,000 annually.

Tish Thomas, executive director of the foundation, said she asked Salopek about setting up the donations.

"Tim was very interested in working with the education foundation here, because he has previously done this in Osceola County," Thomas said.

When asked if she supports the landfill, Thomas said: "I'm in support of the foundation receiving money."

Last Wednesday, Bill and Ann Wilcox, both employees of Edison College, hosted a meet-and-greet at their home with Salopek, Cargill and others from Omni Waste. Bill Wilcox said about 45 people came to hear about the proposed landfill.

"Edison is due, if he starts operation, to get a substantial amount of scholarship money," Bill Wilcox said. "So we're excited about that, if the landfill is approved."

About $150,000 in scholarship funds have been pledged from Omni Waste if the landfill is approved. Ann Wilcox said she hopes the college would receive matching funds from the state, doubling the total scholarship money.

When asked if she supports the landfill, Ann Wilcox said: "I raise money. That's my business."

Cargill said giving back to the community is an important goal for him and Salopek.

"We feel very fortunate that we're able to be successful," Cargill said. "We're giving back to the community that we're living in, 10 percent off of the top of every dime that we make out there."

 

Campaign contributions

Cummings, too, was a beneficiary of Omni Waste during his re-election bid in 2006. After he spoke with Salopek, $3,500 in contributions were made to Cummings' campaign from seven separate individuals affiliated with the company, including Salopek and Cargill.

As Cummings collected more than $28,000 for his race, Omni Waste's contributions amounted to more than 12 percent of his campaign funds.

Chairman Dick Loftus, also elected last year, received at least $2,000 from individuals involved with Omni Waste.

Cummings said he told Salopek that he was accepting the money under the assumption that Salopek and his company felt Cummings was the best man for the job.

"I've been a county commissioner for more than a decade now, and I've had a lot of donors from all different walks of life, and I have voted in support of and against darn near all of them at one point or another," Cummings said. "It kind of goes with the territory."

Loftus said he, too, will not be affected by the donations.

"The contributions I receive from anyone do not have an effect on what I do and the decisions that I make on behalf of the county," Loftus said.

Being involved in politics and making contributions is part of supporting the community, Cargill said.

"We have a cordial relationship with the commissioners, we think," Cargill said. "We don't have any access to the commissioners that anybody else in the public doesn't."

 

One last project

Salopek said he never expected to be in this position. In 2001, he told the Orlando Business Journal that he planned to stay in Osceola County and run the landfill there until it closes in 30 years.

"Once I build this one, I'm done," Salopek told the Journal. He was living in St. Cloud, near the Osceola County landfill, at the time. "I'll build this one up, run it and be happy."

But he was convinced to do just one more.

"Several investors talked me into it and basically made me an offer I couldn't refuse," Salopek told the Sun.

This time, Salopek said, is really his last.

"I'm staying here," he said. "If I can get it up and running, it will give me something to do. I'll be out there every day. I love it here. Even if the thing fails, I'm still staying here."

If the project does fail, Cummings said it won't be because of the efforts of Salopek and Cargill.

"As far as the politics of it, I would say that they have played their hand as well as it can be played," Cummings said. "It's not an easy sell."