Project Description
Pasco County began working with JMG Engineering in late 2015 to identify a more manageable solution for the disposal of their landfill leachate than the current reliance on hauling it to a 3rd party disposal facility. Working in collaboration with HydroGeo Consulting, ASRus, and GHD, the JMG Team conducted a Feasibility Review, Underground Injection Control (UIC) Permitting, and Final Design for a new Class V Injection Well that will be converted to Class I status upon completion of construction.
The Feasibility Review included a detailed summary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Underground Injection Control (UIC) regulations for Class V and Class I injection wells and a proposed permitting approach for the County.
Once the concept of injection was deemed to be feasible, the JMG Engineering Team prepared a detailed design, including a treatment system to assure that the leachate characteristics would be compatible with the injection zone groundwater, and assisted the County in the bidding process to identify a qualified drilling contractor.
Since the initiation of construction in 2019, the JMG Engineering Team has overseen the activities of the drilling contractor and has served as the Engineer-of-Record and the Geologist-of-Record on the project. The geology encountered by the drilling contractor has created project challenges and the JMG Engineering Team has successfully overcome each of those challenges, with well completion anticipated in the first quarter of 2022.
Project Benefits
Once the well is operational in early 2022, Pasco County will no longer be reliant upon a 3rd party for the disposal of their leachate. The recent signing into law of SB 64 by the Florida Legislature, which imposes a deadline for utilities to implement a plan to eliminate surface water discharges of wastewater, validates the importance of the well, which will serve as a reliable leachate disposal source for years to come.