Meetings focus attention on beach wastewater plant


  • February 11, 2015
  • /   William Rabb
  • /   training-development
Two meetings in the next few days will let the public raise questions about the increasingly contentious issue of allowing a wastewater plant on Pensacola Beach to continue discharging reclaimed water into the sound near Portofino Boardwalk. On Feb. 17, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will receive public comments about the DEP's plan to grant a five-year permit renewal to the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority's Pensacola Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant. Utility spokeswoman Nathalie Bowers said ECUA will have several staff members on hand at the Tuesday meeting, including Edward McMath, deputy executive director for utility operations; Don Palmer, director of water reclamation; Tim Haag, director of communications and government affairs. "We have not been invited to the Thursday meeting," Bowers says. [sidebar] Meetings on Pensacola Beach Wastewater Permit FEB. 12 Environmental groups host public discussion about alternatives to discharging reclaimed water into Pensacola Sound, and the treatment plant's five-year permit. When: Thursday, Feb. 12, 5:30 p.m. Where: Santa Rosa Island Authority office, 1 Via De Luna Drive, Pensacola Beach Who: Florida Clean Water Network, League of Women Voters FEB. 17 Florida Department of Environment Protection accepts public comments and questions about the treatment plant permit renewal. When: Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2 to 4:30 p.m. Where: DEP Northwest District Office, 160 West Government St., Pensacola. Who: State environmental regulators. Public comments can also be sent by email to: [email protected]. The permit application file is available at the district office. [/sidebar] The plant discharges an average of more than 800,000 gallons a day of treated wastewater into the sound, just 2,000 feet from one of the area's most popular swimming, boating and entertainment spots, according to news reports. ECUA officials have said the water is treated almost to the level at which it can be consumed by humans, and plans call for more of it to be stored, reused and kept out of the sound in coming years. The DEP's notice about the draft permit says that the treatment plant complies with all state regulations. But environmental groups say the treatment level does not meet federal requirements and does not remove enough fecal contaminants, chemical pollutants, pharmaceuticals and excess nutrients, which harm marine life, swimmers and the tourism industry. They want ECUA to come up with safer methods of disposing the treated wastewater. “This is the perfect time to be raising this issue, or else we'll have to wait another five years,” said Linda Young, head of the Florida Clean Water Network. The group asked for the Tuesday meeting to allow the public to raise questions and get answers from ECUA and state environmental regulators. But the meeting is scheduled during working hours and attendees only may submit written or oral questions. “This new way of doing meetings undermines the public's ability to understand what's going on,” Young said. Young's group, along with the League of Women Voters of the Pensacola Bay Area, Earth Ethics Inc., and the Panhandle Watershed Alliance, are hosting their own question-and-answer session this Thursday, Feb. 12. The meeting will be at the Santa Rosa Island Authority office on Pensacola Beach at 5:30 p.m. The wastewater treatment plant, located east of the SRIA building, has been hit with hurricanes and maintenance issues for more than a decade. ECUA officials have taken steps to reduce the amount of treated effluent that goes into the sound, including reusing the water on roadway medians and on private lawns when requested by property owners. Last fall, ECUA received a $425,000 grant from the Northwest Florida Water Management District to expand its storage and pumping system to reuse more than 285,000 gallons of reclaimed wastewater per day. "Reclaimed water is designated for irrigation, but it is better quality than (Santa Rosa) sound," Bowers said. "They need reclaimed water for irrigation on the beach; otherwise you would be using potable water (for irrigation)." The state has listed an expanded reclaimed wastewater system as one of its five projects in the Pensacola area to be funded by a portion of the BP oil spill penalty money. That project, if awarded by a regional Gulf council, could cost $2.9 million and would allow up to 475,000 gallons a day to be reused for irrigation on public and private property on Santa Rosa Island.
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