>> TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR SCREEN MANASOTA KEY. IT LOOKS A LOT DIFFERENT THAN IT DID AFTER HURRICANE MILTON. WE FLEW OUR DRONE OVER THE STREETS WHERE MUCH OF THE STORM DEBRIS HAS BEEN REMOVED. I CHECKED WITH CHARLOTTE COUNTY ON HOW MUCH STORM DEBRIS THEY'VE ACTUALLY COLLECTED SINCE MILTON. THEY TELL ME 300,000 CUBIC YARDS BEEN TRUCKS TO COLLECTION SITES. SO WHEN TONIGHT'S COVER STORY, WE ARE SHOWING YOU HOW COUNTY LEADERS ARE MOVING FORWARD WITH A PLATO HANDLE FUTURE STORMS AT THE LANDFILL. >> I THINK CLOSE TO WAR ZONES IN THE PHILIPPINES. AND I KNOW THE PLACES THIS WAS LIKE A WAR. THAT'S HOW IAN POWELL DESCRIBES GULF BOULEVARD HERE ON MANASOTA KEY RIGHT AFTER HURRICANE MILTON. HE'S ON THE HOUSE HERE FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS. WHOLE ROAD WAS COVERED INSIDE THERE WAS DEBRIS EVERYWHERE CRUMBLED. HOUSE IS COVERING ROADS, SHARDS OF GLASS MIXED IN WITH A MINUTE WAS IT WAS A BOMB SITE. POWELL SHARED THESE PHOTOS OF THE AFTERMATH WITH ME. EVER SINCE THE STORM, CHARLOTTE COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS. CREWS HAVE BEEN CHIPPING AWAY AT THIS MOUNTAIN OF DEBRIS TRUCK BY TRUCK. HOW MUCH HAS BEEN COLLECTED? JUST A LITTLE OVER 300,000 CUBIC YARDS. JOHN ELIAS IS THE PUBLIC WORKS. DIRECTOR FOR CHARLOTTE COUNTY. >> SO FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE COUNTY, I WOULD SAY 95 TO 90% OF THE COUNTY. >> THE DEBRIS IS ESSENTIALLY PICKED MUCH OF THAT DEBRIS BROUGHT TO COLLECTION SITES LIKE THIS BEFORE HEADING THE LANDFILL. WHEN WE VISITED THIS SITE WEEKS AFTER HURRICANMILTON TO THIS PILE STRETCHED AROUND THE ND MONTHS LATER, MUCH OF THE DEBRIS HAS BEEN TAKEN TO THE LANDFILL. AND THIS IS ALL THAT REMAINS. AS THE LANDFILL GROWS WITH EACH PIECE OF STORM DEBRIS, COUNTY LEADERS ARE MOVING FORWARD WITH PLANS TO EXPAND ITS CAPACITY BY MAKING THE PILE TALLER. >> A CURRENT LANDFILL, I JUST COMMITTED 230 FEET AND IT'S EXPECTED TO LAST UNTIL 2030. THE PLAN IS TO CHANGE THAT PERMITTING TO ALLOW FOR A HIGH OF 195 FEET. ALLIES PRESENTED THE IDEA TO COUNTY LEADERS AFTER MILTON WHAT I THINK OUR PRIOTIES I'M IN FAVOR OF GOING VERTICAL LEADERS SUPPORT THE PLAN, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE COST. WHAT WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF DOING ALL. IT WILL TAKE A LITTLE WHILE TO DESIGN AND PERMIT, BUT IT IT AROUND $100,000 TO DO THAT. A DROP IN THE BUCKET CONSIDERING A LANDFILL EXPANSION WOULD COST TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. WHILE THE COUNTY PLANS FOR DEBRIS IN THE YEARS AHEAD. >> ALLEN SAYS HE'S TAKING IT ONE DAY AT A TIME. IT'S IT'S A RISK OF LIVING THAT HAIR AND I THINK SOME THINGS THAT WAY WE CAN DO TRY AND WOULD YOU STAND? >> AND GETTING YOU MORE ALLIES TO ME. FEMA STOPS REIMBURSING THEIR DEBRIS REMOVAL EFFORT. 100% FEBRUARY 10TH. THEY ARE WORKING TO HAVE ALL THE STORM DEBRIS REMOVED BY THEN AS FAR AS THE LANDFILL IS CONCERNED, HE SAYS THE MORE RECYCLING NEIGHBORS CAN DO THE BETTER THAT WILL HELP KEEP STAFF O
Hurricane debris pushing Charlotte County landfill taller; See what's planned for years ahead
![WZVN logo]()
Updated: 8:56 PM EST Feb 4, 2025
Charlotte County’s Manasota Key looks a lot different now than it did right after Hurricane Milton. We flew our drone over the streets where much of the storm debris has been removed.“I've been close to war zones in the Philippines, other places. This was like a war zone,” explained Ian Powell about the condition of Gulf Boulevard on Manasota Key right after Milton. He has owned a house here for the last 10 years. “There was debris everywhere,” Powell said. After the storm, crumbled houses covered roads, and shards of glass mixed in with sand. “I mean, it was. Yeah, it was a bomb site,” Powell said. Ever since the storm, Charlotte County Public Works crews have collected more than 300,000 cubic yards of debris across the affected communities. As of late January, John Elias, who is the public works director for Charlotte County, said, “For the vast majority of the county, I would say 95 to 98 percent of the county, the debris is essentially picked up.”Much of that debris was brought to collection sites strategically placed around the county before heading to the landfill.When we visited a site weeks after Hurricane Milton near El Jobean, the pile stretched around the bend. Months later, much of the debris has been taken to the landfill. Not much remains. As the landfill grows with each piece of storm debris and regular solid waste, county leaders are moving forward with plans to expand its capacity by making the pile taller. “The current landfill height is permitted to 130 feet, and it's expected to last until 2030,” Elias explained. The plan is to change that permitting to allow for a height of 195 feet. Elias presented the idea to county leaders after Milton. Leaders support the plan, especially given the cost. See video of that presentation here. “What we're in the process of doing, it'll take a little while to design a permit, but at around $100,000 to do that,” Elias said. It’s a drop in the bucket, considering an alternative outward landfill expansion would cost tens of millions of dollars. While the county plans for debris in the years ahead, Powell says he’s taking it one day at a time on Manasota Key. “It's a risk of living down here, and I think there are some things that we can do to try and reduce the impact,” Powell said. Elias explained that FEMA stops reimbursing their debris removal effort 100 percent on Feb. 10. The county is working to have all the storm debris removed by then. As far as the landfill is concerned, Elias said the more recycling neighbors can do, the better. That’ll help keep stuff out of the landfill and slow its growth skyward.
MANASOTA KEY, Fla. — Charlotte County’s Manasota Key looks a lot different now than it did right after Hurricane Milton. We flew our drone over the streets where much of the storm debris has been removed.
“I've been close to war zones in the Philippines, other places. This was like a war zone,” explained Ian Powell about the condition of Gulf Boulevard on Manasota Key right after Milton. He has owned a house here for the last 10 years. “There was debris everywhere,” Powell said.
ABC7 SWFL (WZVN-TV)
Ian Powell talks with Channing Frampton on Manasota Key
After the storm, crumbled houses covered roads, and shards of glass mixed in with sand. “I mean, it was. Yeah, it was a bomb site,” Powell said.
Ever since the storm, Charlotte County Public Works crews have collected more than 300,000 cubic yards of debris across the affected communities. As of late January, John Elias, who is the public works director for Charlotte County, said, “For the vast majority of the county, I would say 95 to 98 percent of the county, the debris is essentially picked up.”
ABC7 SWFL (WZVN-TV)
John Elias talks with Channing Frampton about debris removal in Charlotte County
Much of that debris was brought to collection sites strategically placed around the county before heading to the landfill.
ABC7 SWFL (WZVN-TV)
Debris pile in early November, 2024
When we visited a site weeks after Hurricane Milton near El Jobean, the pile stretched around the bend. Months later, much of the debris has been taken to the landfill. Not much remains.
ABC7 SWFL (WZVN-TV)
What’s left of the pile as of mid January
As the landfill grows with each piece of storm debris and regular solid waste, county leaders are moving forward with plans to expand its capacity by making the pile taller. “The current landfill height is permitted to 130 feet, and it's expected to last until 2030,” Elias explained. The plan is to change that permitting to allow for a height of 195 feet. Elias presented the idea to county leaders after Milton. Leaders support the plan, especially given the cost. See video of that presentation here.
ABC7 SWFL (WZVN-TV)
The Charlotte County landfill
“What we're in the process of doing, it'll take a little while to design a permit, but at around $100,000 to do that,” Elias said. It’s a drop in the bucket, considering an alternative outward landfill expansion would cost tens of millions of dollars.
While the county plans for debris in the years ahead, Powell says he’s taking it one day at a time on Manasota Key. “It's a risk of living down here, and I think there are some things that we can do to try and reduce the impact,” Powell said.
Elias explained that FEMA stops reimbursing their debris removal effort 100 percent on Feb. 10. The county is working to have all the storm debris removed by then. As far as the landfill is concerned, Elias said the more recycling neighbors can do, the better. That’ll help keep stuff out of the landfill and slow its growth skyward.
