A landfill in Central Florida wants permission to inject toxic landfill leachate – often called "garbage juice" – deep underground near the Floridan Aquifer, the source of drinking water for millions of Floridians.
What is leachate?
Leachate is a contaminated liquid that forms when water passes through municipal solid wastes. It can contain:
- Heavy metals like lead
- Pesticides and other dissolved compounds
- High concentrations of pollutants like ammonia, chlorides, and sulfates
- Contaminants like PFAS (“forever chemicals”)
- Harmful bacteria and pathogens
The Heart of Florida (HOF) Landfill in Sumter County currently has an underground injection exploratory permit.1 If the exploratory testing is successful, the Heart of Florida Landfill must seek a Class I operation permit before any deep well injection of leachate.
Class I wells must be located far below drinking water sources and in geologic formations capable of safely containing waste. However, Central Florida’s geology is dominated by karst terrain, which includes sinkholes, caves, underground channels, springs, and disappearing streams,3 this area is not suitable for the deep injection of leachate. These features make it impossible to guarantee that contaminants will remain isolated and not migrate to drinking water supplies. This puts our present and future drinking water at risk.
Odor history and current contamination
Leachate can be treated through physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove heavy metals, ammonia, organic matter, and other pollutants.4 Before 2025, the HOF’s leachate was transported to a wastewater treatment facility.5 It then installed a leachate evaporator, another option than deep well injection.
The company requested authorization for the installation of one SKAGEN F700 leachate evaporator with a total capacity of 60,000 gpd, heated by firing landfill gas and/or natural gas. However, a SKAGEN F1400 leachate evaporator with a total capacity of 72,000 gpd was installed, which allowed for a 20% higher heat input capacity as the evaporator authorized by the 1190053-008-AC permit.6 With the air construction permit violations, the evaporator was decommissioned.7 Unfortunately, the odor continues and HOF has since pivoted to deep well injection. Deep injection is not the only option. There are alternatives.
It is also important to note that the A.C.M.S. landfill in Sumter County has current FDEP violations, including multiple exceedances of applicable groundwater standards in several monitoring wells, including benzene, chloride, iron, sodium, total dissolved solids, and xylenes.8
Incoming garbage from South Florida
It is also worrisome that Miami-Dade County said it is expecting to begin transporting 4,800 tons of garbage per week via rail to Heart of Florida come this summer.9 The heat will worsen the odor and the sheer amount of garbage has implications for the amount of leachate brought, produced, needed to be treated, and expected to be injected.
We need you to be aware and ready to speak out if and when a Class I operation permit process begins. This affects all of us who depend on the Floridan Aquifer.11
Take action today to tell state regulators: Protect Florida's drinking water and reject any proposal to inject landfill leachate underground!
Additional Information
- UIC Permit: 0450206-001-UC/5EX
- Deep Well Injection: an Explosive Issue
- The Favorability of Florida's Geology to Sinkhole Formation
- A comprehensive review of landfill leachate treatment technologies
- To quash noxious odors, Sumter County landfill looks to the ground instead of the air
- Minor Source Air Construction Permit Application for F1400 Leachate Evaporator
- Waste Connections Letter to FDEP
- ACMS HOF Landfill Inspection 05-12 2026
- A massive landfill in a tiny town: Miami-Dade County to send its trash to Central Florida by train
- Florida's aquifers – SJRWMD
