Hazardous Materials Management

Call 911 for all Hazardous Materials Incidents.

About

Staff

Cluttered backyard beside a wooden porch filled with many metal containers, buckets, and stacked firewood among trees.

Derailment of tanker railcars on damaged tracks with smoke rising from the wreckage near a wooded area.

Man working among stacked tires and scrap metal in a wooded yard with a small shed filled with tools and materials.

The Environmental Protection Department’s Hazardous Materials Section is dedicated to protecting public health, property, and the environment.

We provide regulatory compliance assistance to businesses to ensure adherence to local, state, and federal hazardous materials and hazardous waste requirements. Regulated businesses must comply with a comprehensive framework of laws governing the storage, use, manufacture, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials and hazardous wastes. Currently, more than 1,200 businesses within the county are subject to these regulations, and our team conducts approximately 500 inspections annually to promote compliance and environmental stewardship.

Our section maintains 24/7 emergency response for all 911-reported hazardous materials incidents within Alachua County. We work closely with local emergency response partners, including Fire Rescue, Law Enforcement, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Health Department—to mitigate environmental impacts resulting from hazardous materials releases and to oversee remediation and cleanup activities. On average, we respond to approximately 100 incidents requiring cleanup oversight each year.

In addition, we investigate all complaints related to hazardous materials discharges / incidents affecting air, soil, surface water, and groundwater throughout Alachua County.

Our mission is to safeguard the residents of Alachua County while preserving property values and protecting the county’s vital natural resources, including its air, soil, groundwater, springs, rivers, lakes, and creeks.