Winds carrying landfill odor out to Lake Nona residents

Shifting winds are pushing noxious landfill odors south into Lake Nona neighborhoods, where residents worry about the smell and their health.

“This whole week we have not been able to sit outside on our lanai nor open windows in our home because the smell has been so bad,” resident Jeff Beck said in an email to the Orange County Solid Waste Division. “We are very concerned for our health ... This cannot be good.”

The solid-waste division, which logs odor complaints about the landfill, has received more than 150 this month, the most in one month.

Most come from residents in Randal Park, a community south of State Road 528 and about 3 miles southwest of the landfill on Young Pine Road.

Their gripes are similar to those lodged in the summer by residents in Waterside Estates, Victoria Landing and other neighborhoods north of the dump.

The source of the fetid fumes, often compared to rotten eggs, is believed to be hydrogen sulfide, a pungent gas detectable by a human nose at low levels.

“The levels are fairly low,” Solid Waste Director Jim Becker said of the gas levels measured by a monitor. “Though it’s not way up there, it’s very annoying.”

Even low concentrations can irritate the eyes, nose and throat.

When the odors first arose last year, Becker blamed them on a decision to bury household garbage together with construction and demolition debris, including building materials with high sulfur content.

The county has halted that practice and undertaken steps to stifle the stench, adding cover layers of dirt to the landfill and installing a collection system underground to capture the gas before it escapes into the air.

For residents worried about the gas, the Florida Department of Health is expected next week to issue its first report since monitoring stations began collecting data in neighborhoods around the landfill.