Peat mining plan making its way through Lake County hurdles
Groveland
GREG JONES | Staff Writer
gregjones@dailycommercial.com
Winding its way through the Lake County planning process are plans for a huge peat mine on 231 acres near Eustis, which officials support because they say it will restore the property to its original condition.
Peat, or peat moss, is an often fibrous material that forms in wetland conditions where flooding obstructs the flow of oxygen and reduces the decomposition rate of plant material.
The Reliable Peat Company of Groveland wants to remove peat from 175 acres of the Eustis tract and sell it as part of its horticultural supply business. Located southwest of County Road 450A and its intersection with County Road 44A, the property includes 219 acres of wetlands that were historically dug with ditches in order to support agricultural and development activities, said Jennifer Cotch, a county environmental specialist.
"The property was later used as a muck farm," she said. "Alterations to the property have decreased the water quality and the quality of the wetland systems, leaving mostly nuisance and exotic vegetation."
Reliable Peat wants to mine 175 acres of peat from the wetlands in three phases over 10 years, Cotch said.
"When the mining is completed, the mitigation proposed will leave 87.99 acres of open water," she said.
Cotch said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is ready to sign off on the project and the St. Johns Water Management district supports it as a restoration project.
Jack Reiner, the general manager and one of the owners of Reliable Peat, said the company is in the final stages of securing the necessary permitting in order to receive a 10-year work permit from the Environmental Protection Agency. He hopes to begin mining for peat early next year, with the work continuing for another seven or eight years.
Getting a green light for the work has taken a lot of time, said Reiner, who has had to hire an environmental specialist, a hydrological engineer and a tructural engineer. He's even had to pay for a study to be done on the animals in the area, he said.
"We have been in the process of doing this for three years and eight months," Reiner said. "It has taken that long to satisfy all the different requests (from government agencies)."
Reliable Peat has been in business since 1982, providing the horticultural industry with peat at other materials such as compost, top soil, sawdust, wood chips and bark.
Friday, November 16, 2012 - www.dailycommercial.com/16nov2012off