Residents, fishermen and officials bombard state environmental experts with questions on a plan to dispose of 500-million gallons of wastewater. Few were pleased with what they heard.
By CANDACE RONDEAUX
Published May 10, 2003
TARPON SPRINGS - The controversy over a state plan to dispose of more than 500-million gallons of wastewater into the Gulf of Mexico is getting louder.
A crowd of roughly 100 residents, fishermen and local officials turned up the volume considerably at a meeting Thursday night with state environmental experts.
Dozens in the audience angrily demanded answers to their questions about the possible environmental consequences of the state's plan to dump treated wastewater from the Piney Point phosphate plant at Port Manatee into the gulf.
Many who attended the 31/2-hour meeting at the Tarpon Springs campus of St. Petersburg College said afterward they were unhappy with what Department of Environmental Protection officials told them.
"I wanted to hear tonight that they guarantee that it won't kill the fish, that it won't kill the sponges, but that's not what I heard," said former Tarpon Springs Mayor Anita Protos. "I'm sorry. That's not good enough. If the politicians can't stop it for us, we've got to stop it ourselves."
Shirley Miaoulis, an aide to U.S. Rep. Mike Bilirakis, R-Tarpon Springs, told the audience that the congressman is also concerned about the plan.
Last week, Bilirakis sent letters to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman and DEP Secretary David Struhs seeking more information about the plan.
Bilirakis' letter said he was particularly concerned at how rapidly the decision was reached and hoped the agencies could reassure the public that the potential environmental impact was carefully studied.
He said a potential environmental disaster in the gulf could "cripple" Tarpon Springs' economy.
The state plans to disperse the polluted water over an area in the gulf measuring about 19,500 square miles. The wastewater will be dumped where water reaches a depth of 40 meters, or about 130 feet. Disposal is scheduled to start in about six weeks and end in November.
The wastewater now is being stored in an unstable earthen mound. State officials worry that untreated water could spill from the mound, which is nearly full, and pollute Tampa Bay. DEP officials said the disposal must move forward quickly in order to prevent a catastrophe and reduce the time it takes to close Piney Point for good.
"If we can't get the water off the site at the volumes that we're talking about now, we'll be doing this year after year after year," DEP engineer Phil Coram said.
Several biologists and marine experts in the audience said they were sympathetic to the state's dilemma, but the state should consider alternatives to the plan.
Bill Falls, manager of Hillsborough Community College's aquaculture program in Brandon, said the treated wastewater's average pH balance of 6.5 to 8.0 was too acidic. The wastewater could lead to an imbalance in the gulf's ecosystem or cause Red Tide or other algal blooms to grow and kill off marine life, he said.
"This is stressful for fish," Falls said. "My recommendation would be to move this (disposal) out further into the gulf at least 50 miles or more out at 200 meters depth."
State Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, also questioned DEP representatives closely Thursday night, saying the agency needed to delay disposal until scientists could provide stronger assurances that the disposal would not harm the gulf.
"I'm not convinced," he said. "I don't think they gave us definitive answers and there's a real risk for these people. I think at the very least we need to push (the disposal area) out a little further so it doesn't pose such a risk."
Pinellas County Commissioner Susan Latvala said she was impressed by DEP's presentation, but said the success of the disposal would depend largely on the effectiveness of the state's plan to monitor any changes in the gulf. She added that the state's proposed testing of water samples collected voluntarily by commercial fishermen is especially important.
"I think the community has a right to be vigilant and to make sure that the monitoring is done," Latvala said.
But Falls said commercial fishermen do not have enough scientific background to make sure samples were properly collected. He also worried that the emergency disposal in the gulf could set a dangerous precedent.
"What happens when samples say something's gone wrong?" Falls asked. "What happens when another phosphate company decides to go bankrupt and those companies call up DEP and say, "Hey, we need to go out there again with this stuff'?"
Local organizers of Thursday's meeting said they will meet again next week to decide, what, if any, action they will take to try to get the state to reconsider disposal in the gulf.
