Miami’s COVID-induced boom — much of it fueled by an exodus from Latest York — may screech to a halt because of mounting piles of trash and overflowing septic tanks, in keeping with a report.
The general public health risk posed to each the residents and the environment has paused construction on latest housing and threatens to boost taxes on existing homeowners, Bloomberg News reported.
Higher taxes can be a bitter pill for the lots of of hundreds of transplants — some 65,000 from Latest York state last 12 months alone — from across the country who decamped to Florida because the pandemic to bask within the Sunshine State’s relaxed COVID regulations.
Those who landed in Miami-Dade County could see their tax bills spike so as to fund the costly transition from the septic tanks utilized by some 108,000 homes — from the rich enclaves of Coral Gables and Miami Beach to middle-class areas south of the town — to a sewer system, in keeping with Bloomberg News.
![Miami is facing a crisis with its sewage and water systems that are being hammered by rising groundwater.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000015776517.jpg?w=1024)
“It’s unbelievable, not simply to me but to most of the planning and environmental community, which you could have a county as urban as Miami-Dade and never have everybody on water and sewer,” Howard Nelson, who heads the environmental practice at Bilzin Sumberg, told Bloomberg
The local government’s inability to resolve the sewage crisis faced by a population of 2.7 million has forced a moratorium on latest construction in places resembling Belle Meade Island, a complicated area hugging Biscayne Bay where homes sell for $10 million or more.
![A recent report commissioned by the mayor of Miami-Dade County states that several landfills are approaching capacity.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000015776525-1.jpg?w=1024)
South Florida’s infamously heavy rainfall often causes septic tanks to overflow, which ends up in the discharge of fecal bacteria and other contaminants into the groundwater, which is higher as a result of rising sea levels.
The county has already spent $1 billion on water and sewer lines. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s budget has allocated one other $160 million.
The general price tag for getting rid of septic tanks throughout the county could extend beyond $4 billion, in keeping with government estimates.
It could cost homeowners on average $20,000 each to attach their properties to sewer lines, Cava has said.
On top of the sewage issues, several of Miami-Dade County’s large landfills, some carrying nicknames like Mount Trashmore, will run out of space by 2026, in keeping with a report commissioned by Cava.
![Residents could be forced to pay higher taxes and fees as authorities seek to transition to a unified water and sewer system.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000015776513.jpg?w=1024)
Local law requires not less than five years of garbage disposal capability so as to issue constructing permits.
Cava’s solution is to pile trash higher.
That concept apparently didn’t sit well with Cava’s solid waste director Michael Fernandez, who abruptly quit in July, warning that the county won’t have enough space for trash if Cava doesn’t act fast, in keeping with Bloomberg.
“At this point, the County could have to issue a moratorium to stop all development,” he wrote in his resignation letter, Bloomberg reported.
Cava, a Democrat and the primary woman to steer Miami-Dade County after her election win in 2020, has disputed that assessment, in keeping with the outlet.
She has proposed constructing a $1 billion incinerator and power plant that will process some 1 million tons of trash per 12 months.
“It’s very critical,” said Cava of the infrastructure hurdles facing the county. “Now we have to handle all of that aggressively.”