Stop the Stink
Bringing awareness to the situation regarding Indianhead Biomass' violations and illegal operations in St. Augustine, FL and the petition for Indianhead Biomass to cease all biohazard processing at their facility.
The Situation
Since Indianhead Biomass Services began processing biohazard waste in 2019, the neighboring communities have had their health and quality of life negatively impacted due to Indianhead Biomass' illegal operations and many violations that are documented by the FDEP in the warning letter issued July 17, 2024, and the consent order issued October 18, 2024.
For years, the residents of nearby communities submitted complaints about the horrid smell of human feces in the area. Many residents have reported nausea, sinus issues, headaches, dizzy spells, breathing difficulties, experiencing worsening asthma, and becoming sick more frequently. Some have sought medical attention due to increases in illness frequency and breathing difficulties that only began once they moved into the affected area. Others state their quality of life has been impacted because they cannot walk their dogs, play in their backyards, sit outside, or have their windows open during the times in which the odor of human feces is particularly strong. The odor comes and goes with wind direction changes and alterations in atmospheric pressures but has become more frequent and severe since 2021 and continues to get worse going into 2025. When the nearby developments were under construction and being sold, buyers asked their realtors and the builders what the odor was. They were told it was the sod used for the landscaping and that the odor would go away once the development was finished, but it didn’t. Now, the nearby residents are concerned primarily for their health and well-being but also worry about the value of their homes and how difficult it has been for some to sell their houses due to the Indianhead situation. Indianhead originally only processed wood and yard trash. It wasn’t until they acquired the permit and began processing biowaste in 2019 that the air quality was impacted significantly and is continuing to negatively impact the lives of everyone around the facility. In addition to the odor of human feces, Indianhead has begun operating at unconventional hours with heavy machinery close enough to the residents that they are being woken up late at night, around 11pm, or as early as 4am. The community wants to bring awareness to this ongoing detrimental situation and request Indianhead Biomass be required to cease all production and processing regarding waste management and biohazard materials. For years, they have failed to follow the regulations as established by the BMF permit, and the affected community has no reason to believe Indianhead Biomass will adhere to them now or in the future since they disregarded the regulations from the beginning. Indianhead has proven they are incapable of adhering to the allowed permit, are operating on a permit that expired over a year ago, and have actively disregarded previous requests to take corrective actions from the FDEP issued in March of 2023.
Affected Areas
Morgans Cove, Carter Road, St. Augustine Lakes, Deer Run, Adams Acres, Green Acres, Prairie Lakes, Entrada, Osceola Heights, Holmes Blvd, and Old Town Villages. There may be more affected areas we are unaware of, including the new residential developments in the vicinity. Recently, as of October 2024, the smell has reached as far as Osceola Elementary School and Murray Middle School. With building more and more houses in the vicinity, the community is concerned for the health and well-being of both the current and the future residents.
Violations Documented by the FDEP
• Operating on an expired permit. Permit expired August 7, 2023.• Indianhead failed to process biosolids using the approved Pathogen Reduction and Vector Attraction methods as required by the BMF Permit.• May 2023, FDEP began receiving "odor" complaints from residents in the vicinity of Indianhead Biomass. The FDEP verified the presence of "odors" within the Morgans Cove residential development, west of the facility, and along Carter Road to the east of Indianhead, which are consistent with the odor profile detected at Indianhead Biomass. Indianhead Biomass failed to take corrective actions including processing of biosolids within the requirements of the BMF permit.• FDEP noted that Indianhead failed to ensure odors from the facility did not adversely affect the surrounding neighborhoods.• Inspection in March of 2024 revealed Indianhead Biomass operated, processed, and stored domestic wastewater biosolids outside of the permit approved zones without proper authorization.• Operating and expanding approximately 3.4 acres onto Hinman Property without permitting authorization.• In March 2024, inspection revealed two of Indianhead Biomass' processing/storage areas didn't have accessible perimeter roads and one vegetative debris pile had been on site longer than 18 months. The FDEP reports observing approximately a 300ft long pile.• In the follow-up inspections in April 2024, the FDEP observed 21,000 cubic yards of processed vegetative waste placed along and down the edge of a borrow pit and pond belonging to St. Johns River Water Management District on Hinman Property which was outside of the permitted zone. Some of the transferred vegetative debris was found in the water.• In March 2024, the inspection revealed Indianhead Biomass did not have effective and complete berms to contain stormwater onsite. Potential areas of stormwater runoff were observed during the Department's inspection and from aerial photography, dated Jan. 29, 2024.• As documented Dec. 1, 2023 and then confirmed March 29, 2024, Indianhead Biomass failed to provide required documentation including monthly Class AA Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMR), properly completed Quality Assurance documentation including chain of custody forms and Pathogen Reduction/Vector Attraction Reduction confirmation documents, and properly annotated Class AA Biosolids labels.• FDEP found that Indianhead does not appear to consistently meet the 30-day testing prior to the distribution and marketing requirement. Some compost material has been stored on site for more than a year after testing.
The information above is documented in the Consent Order: FDEP vs Indianhead Biomass, LLC, et al. Consent Order, OGC No. 24-1614. and the Warning Letter No. 24-166. Both can be found on the DEP Oculus.For ease of access: DEP Oculus
Click :"Public Oculus Login"
Change "Catalog" option to be "Wastewater"
Change "Search by" to be "Property"
Under "Property" set to "Facility-Site ID"
In "Facility-Site ID" field put in "FLAB03976"
Click "Search"
The listing will then change and only show 10 results.
Click the blue text column "Document Date" to sort by newest
Change "Results/Page" to "55" then hit "Refresh"
The Consent order is from 10-18-2024; the Warning Letter is from 07-17-2024.
Owner and Operator
Roy Hinman, II.
Dr. Roy H. Hinman is a family medicine doctor at Island Doctors in Saint Augustine, Florida. He has been the owner of Indianhead Exploration, LLC. since its original iteration in 2007 when it was a yard waste and debris handling facility. In 2018, he established Indianhead Biomass, LLC. and filed for a permit to process biowaste material.
Joe Williams
Joe "Dirt" Williams is the co-founder of Indianhead Biomass, LLC and Indianhead Exploration, LLC. He has been alongside Roy Hinman since the beginning when they both started the composting operation in 2007. He is also the owner of Joe Dirt Inc. in St. Augustine, FL.
