Miami-Dade Property Owner Charged With Running Illegal Landfill

MIAMI, FL — A Miami-Dade property owner was accused of running an illegal landfill following a December 2016 fire that caused nearby homeowners to evacuate for a time and took firefighters two weeks to extinguish. Gelio Justino Hernandez was charged with two counts of operating an illegal landfill and one count of failing to obtain a permit to store, process or dispose of solid waste. His 3.34 acre property is located on the southeast corner of NW 162nd Street and NW 122nd Avenue.

“Miami-Dade’s pristine beauty is what draws people to our community,” said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle in announcing the charges on Tuesday. “Environmental crimes not only destroy that beauty but they can endanger our water table and contaminate our air, posing health risks to everyone living here. I am proud to be partnering with the Miami-Dade Police Department and DERM to bring environmental criminals to justice.”

The charges were the result of a joint investigation by the Miami-Dade Police Department, the Miami-Dade Division of Environmental Resources Management or DERM and the Environmental Crimes Unit of the State Attorney’s Office.

“The Miami-Dade Police Department is committed to promoting a safe and secure environment while
improving the quality of life in our community,” according to Miami-Dade Police Department Director Juan J. Perez. “This investigation showcases the ongoing collaborative efforts, alongside our law enforcement and Miami-Dade County partners, to combat illegal dumping and environmental crimes affecting our neighborhoods.”

This marks the first case filed by the Environmental Crimes Unit of the State Attorney’s Office since Fernandez Rundle partnered with the Miami-Dade Police Department to refocus prosecutorial and law enforcement attention on environmental crimes.

Prosecutors said the site contains a "massive pile of potentially combustible waste and refuse" that was piled as high as 40 feet. "The contents of the waste pile consist of items including wood, concrete, metal, roofing materials, carpet, five-gallon oil buckets, tires, plant debris, and other unknown materials," according to prosecutors, who added that Hernandez was well known to DERM staffers.

"When Miami-Dade Police visited the site in December 2016, the debris pile was on fire creating a large
amount of smoke, causing people on neighboring properties to leave their properties and businesses, and
move their animals to safer locations," prosecutors said. "Information gathered indicated that the Miami-Dade Fire Department had been fighting the fire for two weeks and were having trouble completely extinguishing it due to the large amount of combustible materials at the location."

Photo via Google Earth