Broward commissioners delay vote on Monarch Hill Landfill expansion

Broward commissioners discussed Tuesday whether or not to expand The Monarch Hill, a landfill wedged between Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, and Coconut Creek.

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The landfill’s owner, Waste Management, Inc., reported it is a few short years out from reaching capacity, so there is a need to expand about 24 acres and 10 stories high.

“We don’t have the time to wait anymore,” Chris Carey, of Waste Management, told commissioners.

The proposal hasn’t gone over so well with the landfill’s neighbors, so Broward County’s Solid Waste Authority is working on a master plan.

“We’ll let you go higher, you take the organic waste away from here so it doesn’t smell and we can compost it in another place,” Broward County’s Mayor Beam Furr said.

Waste Management offered to take the organic matter to a landfill in Okeechobee. Vice Mayor Mark Bogen disagreed with Furr’s belief that if the landfill doesn’t smell bad residents won’t have a problem with the expansion.

“This landfill is in a very populated area. We have recordings from Waste Management representatives years ago saying that they will not be seeking more expansion, and they just keep coming back,” Bogen said.

The vice mayor believes the expansion is not viable and the more than three dozen people who lined up to speak on the issue during the meeting agreed.

A meeting in November included more than three hours of public comments and commissioners deferred the vote. Dozens signed up to speak on Tuesday, so the vote was delayed again. Commissioners will meet again later this month.

Watch the meeting