Walton County buys $8k hog trap for landfill after damage reports

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. ( WMBB ) — Wild hogs are creating issues for the Walton County landfill.

Landfill staff said a drove of nearly two dozen pigs has been roaming the 180 acres off Highway 83 in DeFuniak Springs.

Staff said they are not usually an issue if they stay away from the landfills and equipment.

But recently, the boars have been tearing up land near the almost full landfill causing concerns for safety.

“We have a class three landfill on our facility that is regulated by FDEP. It’s required for us to maintain those slopes so there are no slope failures. To maintain the leachate that’s within the landfill. So we have been monitoring the harvest on the site. They’ve gotten close to the Class three landfill to the point where they’re on the outside perimeter of the ditches and a little bit on the slopes,” said Thomas Leblanc, Solid Waste Operations Manager. “So we are seeking to kind of remove the nuisance from the site so that we don’t weigh we don’t have any slope failures or damage to the facility.”

To combat the issue, the Environmental Services Department asked the board of county commissioners to purchase an $8,500 trap.

The trap has a camera system and a feeder. Once the trap is in place staff will be trained on how to trap and remove the animals.

Staff said the hogs become a nuisance every five years or so and having a trap will save thousands of dollars in the future.

“It was quite a bit financially to have them come out and monitor the traps. Now they have the cameras on the traps to monitor it. But for them to come out and check them regularly, it just didn’t seem advantageous or cost-effective,” Leblanc said.

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