About Shelley's Septic Tanks, DBA Shelley's Environmental
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Necessity of the Business and Community Service
Folks all over Central Florida flush their toilet with little thought about where the waste they flush ends up. For some, it goes to a regional wastewater treatment plant, and for others, it ends up in their septic tank and drain field. Some businesses or mobile home parks might have a package plant or other disposal system. Wherever it ends up, there is one common denominator - companies like Shelley's Environmental Services become responsible for it. Through Shelley's state-certified process, your waste is turned into a recycled soil amendment and fertilizer that growers love and competitors envy.
Here's the facts - if you are living and breathing, you are generating waste and that waste has to go somewhere. Per state and federal law, waste has to be permitted to go somewhere, or something has to happen to it. With landfills rapidly filling up, that's where Shelley's comes in. They have developed an economical way to recycle the waste into a much-needed soil amendment, turning a negative environmental impact into a positive one, and reducing the carbon footprint of our growing population.
Business History
Since 1990, the Shelley's have taken our waste reused it, and recycled it to make groves and hayfields greener and root systems stronger.
David and Barbara Shelley met at Apopka High School and were instant sweethearts. Both came from families that taught them the value of a dollar and the financial rewards of hard work. Forgoing college to start a family and enter the job market, they began Shelley's Environmental in 1984 after David watched a local company charge his employer a large bill for 15 minutes of work cleaning out their package plant at the facility he managed.
With help from family and local businessmen, David and Barbara realized their entrepreneurial spirit, bought some used equipment, and figured out how to reverse the manifold on a truck they purchased so that it could vacuum out waste from package plants. From there they were in the business of hauling and treating waste. As national homebuilders came to Central Florida to fill the new demand for housing and the population exploded, the Shelley's stayed busy installing the septic systems necessitated by that growth.
Neither Shelley was afraid of hard work and for the first several years they worked from their homestead and it was a common site to see David and Barbara working side by side to get the job done. Their motto has always been "whatever it takes." Hard work ethics and strong family values fed their drive to meet the needs of the many.
As the regulations concerning septic systems and human waste grew, the Shelley's adapted and worked with lawmakers and government officials to stay at the forefront of the business and ensure they were setting examples ahead of their competitors.
Currently, they install septic tanks and drain fields, pump lift stations, package plants, and haul and treat cake sludge from municipalities every day to keep up with the ever-increasing demands of sewer systems from the Central Florida area.
Sustainability/Recycling/Green Innovation and How the Shelley's System Works
David and Barbara Shelley have made a career out of turning your waste into a safe, state-certified fertilizer that growers love and reduce the waste we send to the landfill.
The Shelley team has fought to stay at the forefront of the ever-evolving regulatory changes surrounding their business. Their current system - promoted by state regulators - mixes cake, or dewatered waste, from wastewater treatment facilities and septic system waste with mineral lime, and then wood chips fines and other organic matter to help make a soil conditioner that farmers love.
The lime mineral heats the cake product, which is hauled to their facility from numerous waste-water plants in the region, to 160 degrees which kills all the pathogens in it and prevents vector attraction. Once the treatment process is completed, the material is classified as a commercial registered fertilizer by the State of Florida. The fertilizer is then mixed with wood chip fines and other organic material and left to sit for a short time in windrows on their property.
The fertilizer (cake, lime, and organic material mixture) is then screened through large machines that separate the fines and any larger chip material that is then reused in the process. The fines are suitable for distribution to area groves, sod farms, and other agricultural interests where they are distributed with spreaders that ensure an even ground covering of it for best management practices.
Because of the nutrients it contains and its long-term activation once distributed, groves, nurseries, sod farms, and hay farmers use the soil mixture as a soil amendment and economical fertilizer. Shelley's fertilizer product has had a positive effect on citrus greening in orange groves bringing new life to groves that might otherwise sell to developers.
In addition to the positive effects the fertilizer mixture has on the land, the cake sludge, tree waste, and yard waste they recycle into fertilizer would otherwise end up in the landfills giving local and regional landfills and Construction Debris. Landfills many years of extended life.
The Economic Importance of Shelley's
The Shelley team has over 80 employees, many of whom have been working there for years or decades. The employees stay because they can earn a competitive wage they can raise a family on.
The Shelley's have paid hundreds of thousands in taxes over the years including heavy road use tax, property taxes, and tangible taxes. Many local vendors depend on the Shelley business and their employees frequent local restaurants and stores. The ripple effect of their successful business helps many other local businesses and stores.
David and Barbara are members of the Apopka Chamber of Commerce and sponsor multiple youth sports teams, 4-H Agricultural programs, Boys and Girls Clubs, the local YMCA, and many local schools. It's not uncommon to see David bidding against himself at the local livestock auction to benefit 4-H kids. The Shelley's believe in giving back and over the years have sponsored numerous events at their home to benefit the community, including large Christmas parties, local high school class reunions, team sporting events and cookouts, birthday parties, and weddings.
Shelley's Property Rights and Smell
The Shelley's have been at their facility on Jones Avenue in Zellwood since 1990 and have had continual permitting and inspections through local and state agencies during this time.
Their land is zoned Heavy Industrial-4 which allows for the highest use of their land. Other suitable uses in this zoning category include petroleum refining, tire manufacturing, explosives manufacturing, and corrosive acid manufacturing. Their neighbors are chemical plants and other heavy-industrial facilities you would expect to find in this type of zoning use. I-4 Heavy Industrial Zoning allows for businesses that may produce noises and/or odors.
The Shelley's are performing community service by taking human waste and recycling it into fertilizer people want. If they were forced to move few places in the county are properly zoned for their use.
Shelley's employs several mechanisms for containing any odors they generate including an odor mister system, but many of their neighbors admit there is little to no smell from the boundaries of their property. Recently, Shelley's has been blamed for odors in the area. The topic of odors is very subjective however, with no real comprehensive way to measure smell, Shelley's team works diligently to keep their facility up to high standards and in compliance with all local and state environmental rules. They have also recently had two odor studies done by independent engineers that found no detectable odors from Shelley's operation beyond their property's borders. Based on recent operational changes at nearby properties, there appear to be fewer odors in the area.
The Economic Importance of Shelley's
The Shelley team has over 80 employees, many of whom have been working there for years or decades. The employees stay because they can earn a competitive wage they can raise a family on.
The Shelley's have paid hundreds of thousands in taxes over the years including heavy road use tax, property taxes, and tangible taxes. Many local vendors depend on the Shelley business and their employees frequent local restaurants and stores. The ripple effect of their successful business helps many other local businesses and stores.
Conclusion
David and Barbara are members of the Apopka Chamber of Commerce and sponsor multiple youth sports teams, 4-H Agricultural programs, Boys and Girls Clubs, the local YMCA, and many local schools. It's not uncommon to see David bidding against himself at the local livestock auction to benefit 4-H kids. The Shelley's believe in giving back and over the years have sponsored numerous events at their home to benefit the community, including large Christmas parties, local high school class reunions, team sporting events and cookouts, birthday parties, and weddings.
The Shelley's are a vital part of the Northwest Orange County community and we need them to continue the important, eco-friendly, and unglamorous work they do - because we all benefit from it.
Fun Fact
In 2019, Shelley's processed over 634,000 tons of waste - that is the equivalent of over 6 US Navy Nimitz Class aircraft carriers.
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