'Newspg2.indd' by The Newscaster Nature Coast News

PAGE 2 - April 28, 2010

The Newscaster - Nature Coast News

Public boat ramp at Chassahowitzka

2010 Law Enforcement

Campground closed May 10-14be closed

Torch Run This Week

The county s public boat ramp at the Chassahowitzka Campground will

from Monday, May 10, through Friday, May 14, while the ramp is reconstructed.

The tradition continues on Thursday, April 29, when Citrus County deputies join Sheriff

The county is posting signs in Chassahowitzka to alert boaters to the temporary

Jeff Dawsy for their part in the annual Florida Law Enforcement Torch Run that benefits

closing. The new ramp is being paid for with state Boating Improvement funds and being

Special Olympics Florida.

constructed by Tedder Systems. Tedder is the contractor that installed the public ramps on

Each year, this signature event highlights the law enforcement community s year-

the Homosassa River at the end of S. Cherokee Way between Macraes and Riverside Marina

round support of Special Olympics. Law enforcement officers from more than 300 agen-

and at Pete s Pier in Crystal River.

cies around the state carry the “Flame of Hope” in an intrastate relay of simultaneous routes

Citrus Landfill to employ permanent

throughout Florida, covering countless thousands of miles.

The torch makes its journey all the way to the opening ceremonies of Florida s annual

State Summer Games, to be held this year on May 14-15, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports

flaretheto burnSolid Waste Division was preparing to begin burn-

off methane gas

Complex in Orlando. More than 1,500 athletes are expected to compete in sporting events

ranging from bocce, cycling and soccer to tennis, track & field and volleyball.

On Wednesday,

Citrus County

Citrus County s law enforcement relay participants will meet at the sheriff s Crystal River

ing off methane gas at the county landfill. The solid waste buried in the landfill generates a

Community Resource Office, where the run will start at 8:30 a.m. Runners will cover a

methane laden gas, and collecting it and burning it off in a permanent flare is an effective

distance of about 3 miles, traveling along S.R. 44 to the Crystal River Publix at the intersec-

way to reduce the impact of methane on the environment and atmosphere, according to

tion of C.R. 486.

county Solid Waste Director Casey Stephens.

Law enforcement bicyclists will ride the second leg of the cross-county relay from there

Stephens said he wanted to alert the public so that no one driving by in the dark would

to Beall s department store at S.R. 44 and Croft Avenue, about an 11-mile stretch. From

think there was a fire at the landfill.

that point, runners will complete the relay leg with a 3.5-mile run to the Sheriff s Operations

“There will be a big, big candle burning 24/7,” he said. The light might be easily visible

Center in downtown Inverness. Relay participants have the option of going the entire 17.5

from the highway, he said, and he wanted to let everyone know the landfill had not caught

miles or any portion of that distance.

fire. He said landfill workers were testing the flare Wednesday and would put it into service

This year, several Special Olympics athletes from the county are expected to join the local

as soon as the system was ready, which might be as early as that evening. Using a flare to

Torch Run contingent for at least a part of the run-and-ride event.

burn off methane is not unusual at large landfills. The collection and flaring system was paid

As in past years, Citrus County s law enforcement runners and bicyclists will raise funds

for through the landfill s capital improvement funds, which is predominantly supported by

for Special Olympics Florida through the sale of commemorative T-shirts and caps. The

user fees.

Law Enforcement Torch Run has long been the largest grass-roots fund-raiser and public

Methane, the major component of the gas coming from the landfill, is itself odorless,

awareness vehicle for the Special Olympics program.

though very combustible. When it burns, methane is reduced to water vapor and carbon di-

Advisory against swimming at

oxide. While carbon dioxide, like methane, is also a greenhouse gas, methane traps 25 times

as much of the sun s heat in the atmosphere as does carbon dioxide in terms of adding to

Ft.County Parks and Gulf Beach lifted

Island Recreation Division removed the no swimming signs

global warming.

“So flaring is good for the environment,” Stephens said. “This voluntary landfill gas

The Citrus

control system will reduce emissions to the atmosphere, minimize odors, and ensure that

from Fort Island Gulf Beach Park late this week after the Citrus County Health Department

Central Landfill is operated in an environmentally responsible way and as a good neighbor

lifted its advisory against swimming at the beach.

to the community.”

The health department s Division of Environmental Health samples the water at

Just as important, he said, the county expects to reap a financial benefit through the sale

the beach each week, and last week samples had shown unacceptable levels of enterococci

of greenhouse gas emission reduction credits through the Climate Action Reserve. “In the

and fecal bacteria, which are used in state standards to determine the potential danger of

first year we expect to reduce landfill gas emissions of approximately 39,000 metric tons of

disease causing organisms in the water. The water samples taken for the week of April 19,

carbon dioxide equivalent. According to the U.S. EPA, these CO2 emission reductions are

however, showed acceptable levels.

equivalent to the emissions of 7,400 automobiles per year, the combustion of 4.3 million

gallons of gasoline, the electricity use of over 4,700 homes, or the carbon sequestered by

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over 8,300 acres of pine forest. In addition, he said, the county will be able to gauge the

feasibility of an electricity generating or energy end-use project that uses the gas as a fuel

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source. A landfill gas to energy project could generate additional revenue for the county.

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