Politics

Miami-Dade may ask Florida to look at easing restrictions on incinerator ash in asphalt, cement

Published

3 weeks ago

November 12, 2025

As Miami-Dade leaders seek a new trash incinerator site, the County Commissioner whose district housed the old one wants flexibility in how the coming one’s ash is managed or reused.

A resolution by Commissioner Juan Carlos “J.C.” Bermudez would ask the state Legislature and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to make it easier to recycle ash produced by waste-to-energy facilities, like the one in Miami-Dade that burned down in 2023.

The measure, scheduled for a full and final vote at the Commission’s Nov. 18 meeting, calls for state lawmakers to revise Florida Statutes to “facilitate safe reuse of incinerator ash.” It also requests DEP guidance on such uses, which could include blending the ash with cement and asphalt.

Bermudez — the immediate past Mayor of Doral, where the old incinerator once stood — told Florida Politics that under the current arrangement, the ash the facility produced has just piled up in a landfill to create “a fake mountain” in the city.

He sees it as both an eyesore and a wasted opportunity.

“What if we could use that, sell it and make a little money back, which would help us with the finances of building a new facility, which would be rather costly,” he said.

“Other countries are doing it. So are other states, to a certain extent.”

There’s research to support Bermudez’s proposal.

A University of Florida study, published in 2018, found that properly processed ash from waste-to-energy facilities could be blended into hot-mix asphalt pavement and some concrete mixes at modest replacement levels while still meeting minimum specifications.

However, researchers found that performance typically didn’t match virgin-only mixes, and the team recommended larger-scale field trials in Florida and routine pre-treatment and processing to control variability and durability issues.

Another peer-reviewed study published in 2021 found, among other things, that after beneficiation — removing aluminum and zinc residues to below specific levels to avoid expansion issues — the ash performed well in concrete.

There are several potential benefits to using solid waste incinerator ash in construction materials. It would reduce the volume of current landfills, and its inclusion in cement mixes could cut carbon emissions that would otherwise result from processing virgin cement aggregate.

Some research has even shown that modest ash replacement levels can maintain or even improve concrete durability.

There are some challenges, however. The ash’s composition can vary widely depending on the material burned and incineration technology used, which could make the development of a uniform process difficult. It can also contain heavy metals, chlorides, sulfates and unburnt organics, which can leach or cause durability issues in the blended material.

Making the ash suitable for construction use often requires costly pre-treatment and careful control of replacement levels, since higher substitution can weaken concrete or asphalt performance. And the long-term consistency of that material remains uncertain, which may be why strict regulatory standards — like those in Florida — limit large-scale adoption until more data is available.

In several European countries — including Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands — bottom ash from waste incinerators is actively used in road base and fill applications. Stateside, the Federal Highway Administration has noted that “neither federal nor most state regulations categorically restrict” solid waste ash use in roadway materials as long as the ash is tested and shown to be nonhazardous. But the presence of trace metals like lead and cadmium in the ash in some ash, along with dioxins and furans, “has led to many regulatory agencies to take a cautious approach in approving” its use as a substitute aggregate material.

Bermudez’s proposal may remind some of the so-called “radioactive roads” legislation Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in June 2023 to study using the byproduct of phosphate mining in road materials. Florida produces about 30 million tons yearly of the byproduct, phosphogypsum, which has been approved for road use under President Donald Trump. Environmental groups in Florida have since sued to stop paving projects that include the material.

Bermudez said his proposal, while substantively similar to the 2023 state measure, should be far less controversial.

“This isn’t anywhere near what the phosphate would be,” he said.

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Politics

Early voting underway for Miami Mayor’s runoff between Eileen Higgins, Emilio González

Published

45 minutes ago

December 6, 2025

May Greene

Early voting is underway in Miami as former County Commissioner Eileen Higgins and former City Manager Emilio González enter the final stretch of a closely watched Dec. 9 mayoral runoff.

The two candidates rose from a 13-person field Nov. 4, with Higgins winning about 36% of the vote and González taking 19.5%. Because neither surpassed 50%, Miami voters must now choose between contrasting visions for a city grappling with affordability, rising seas, political dysfunction and rapid growth.

Both promise to bring more stability and accountability to City Hall. Both say Miami’s permitting process needs fixing.

Higgins, a mechanical engineer and eight-year county commissioner with a broad, international background in government service, has emphasized affordable housing — urging the city to build on public land and create a dedicated housing trust fund — and supports expanding the City Commission from five to nine members to improve neighborhood representation.

She also backs more eco-friendly and flood-preventative infrastructure, faster park construction and better transportation connectivity and efficiency.

She opposes Miami’s 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, calling recent enforcement “inhumane and cruel,” and has pledged to serve as a full-time mayor with no outside employment while replacing City Manager Art Noriega.

González, a retired Air Force colonel, former Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and ex-CEO of Miami International Airport, argues Miami needs an experienced administrator to fix what he calls deep structural problems.

He has made permitting reform a top priority, labeling the current system as barely functioning, and says affordability must be addressed through broader tax relief rather than relying on housing development alone.

He supports limited police cooperation with ICE and wants Miami to prepare for the potential repeal of homestead property taxes. Like Higgins, he vows to replace Noriega but opposes expanding the commission.

He also vows, if elected, to establish a “Deregulation Task Force” to unburden small businesses, prioritizing capital investments that protect Miamians, increasing the city’s police force, modernizing Miami services with technology and a customer-friendly approach, and rein in government spending and growth.

Notably, Miami’s Nov. 4 election this year might not have taken place if not for González, who successfully sued in July to stop officials from delaying its election until 2026.

The runoff has drawn national attention, with major Democrats like Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, Arizona U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego and Orange County Mayor-turned-gubernatorial candidate Jerry Demings and his wife, former Congresswoman Val Demings, backing Higgins and high-profile Republicans like President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott lining up behind González.

For both parties, Miami’s outcome is seen as a bellwether heading into a volatile 2026 cycle, in a city where growth, climate challenges and governance failures remain top concerns for nearly 500,000 residents.

Higgins, a 61-year-old Democrat who was born in Ohio and grew up in New Mexico, entered the race as the longest-serving current member of the Miami-Dade Commission. She won her seat in a 2018 Special Election and coasted back into re-election unopposed last year.

She chose to vacate her seat three years early to run for Mayor.

She worked for years in the private sector, overseeing global manufacturing in Europe and Latin America, before returning stateside to lead marketing for companies such as Pfizer and Jose Cuervo.

In 2006, she took a Director job with the Peace Corps in Belize, after which she served as a foreign service officer for the U.S. State Department under President Barack Obama, working in Mexico and in economic development areas in South Africa.

Since filing in April, Higgins raised $386,500 through her campaign account. She also amassed close to $658,000 by the end of September through her county-level political committee, Ethical Leadership for Miami. Close to a third of that sum — $175,000 — came through a transfer from her state-level PC.

She also spent about $881,000.

If elected, Higgins would make history as Miami’s first woman Mayor.

González, a 68-year-old born in Cuba, brought the most robust government background to the race. A U.S. Army veteran who rose to the rank of colonel, he served as Miami City Manager from 2017 to 2020, CEO of Miami International Airport (MIA) from 2013 to 2017 and as Director of Citizenship and Immigration Services at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush.

In private life, he works as a partner at investment management firm RSMD Investco LLC. He also serves as a member of the Treasury Investment Council under the Florida Department of Financial Services.

Since filing to run for Mayor in April, he raised nearly $1.2 million and spent about $1 million.

Election Day is Tuesday.

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Politics

Paul Renner doubles down on Cory Mills critique, urges more Republicans to join him

Published

2 hours ago

December 6, 2025

May Greene

Mills was a day-one Byron Donalds backer in the gubernatorial race.

A former House Speaker and current candidate for Governor is leading the charge for Republicans as scandal swirls around a Congressman.

Saying the “evidence is mounting” against Rep. Cory Mills, Paul Renner says other candidates for Governor should “stand up and be counted” and join him in the call for Mills to leave Congress.

Renner made the call earlier this week.

But on Friday, the Palm Coast Republican doubled down.

He spotlighted fresh reporting from Roger Sollenberger alleging that Mills’ company “appears to have illegally exported weapons while he serves in Congress, including to Ukraine,” that Mills failed to disclose conflicts of interest, “tried to fistfight other Republican members of Congress, and lied about his party stature to bully other GOP candidates out of primaries that an alleged romantic interest was running in,” and lied about his conversion to Islam.

The House Ethics Committee is already probing Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, over allegations of profiting from federal defense contracts while in Congress. More recently, the Committee expanded its work to review allegations that he assaulted one ex-girlfriend and threatened to share intimate photos of another.

Other candidates have been more reticent in addressing the issue, including Rep. Byron Donalds.

“When any other members have been involved and stuff like this, my advice is the same,” said Donalds, a Naples Republican. “They need to actually spend a lot more time in the district and take stock of what’s going on at home, and make that decision with their voters.”

The response came less than a year after Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, spoke at the launch of Donalds’ gubernatorial campaign.

___

Staff writer Jacob Ogles contributed reporting.

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Politics

Eileen Higgins brings out starpower as special election campaign nears close

Published

2 hours ago

December 6, 2025

May Greene

Prominent Democrats will be on hand at a number of stops.

Former Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins is enlisting more big names as support at early vote stops ahead of Tuesday’s special election for Mayor, including a Senate candidate, a former Senate candidate, and a current candidate for Governor.

During her canvass kickoff at 10 a.m at Elizabeth Virrick Park, Higgins will appear with U.S. Senate Candidate Hector Mujica.

Early vote stops follow, with Higgins solo at the 11 a.m. show-up at Miami City Hall and the 11:30 at the Shenandoah Library.

From there, big names from Orlando will be with the candidate.

Orange County Mayor and candidate for Florida Governor Jerry Demings and former Congresswoman Val Demings will appear with Higgins at the Liberty Square Family & Friends Picnic (2 p.m.), Charles Hadley Park (3 p.m.), and the Carrie P. Meek Senior and Cultural Center (3:30 p.m.)

Higgins, who served on the County Commission from 2018 to 2025, is competing in a runoff for the city’s mayoralty against former City Manager Emilio González. The pair topped 11 other candidates in Miami’s Nov. 4 General Election, with Higgins, a Democrat, taking 36% of the vote and González, a Republican, capturing 19.5%.

To win outright, a candidate had to receive more than half the vote. Miami’s elections are technically nonpartisan, though party politics frequently still play into races.

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