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Curbing wastewater overflow a priority
Largo could spend $100-million toward meeting Environmental Protection Agency standards. A proposed plan calls for ways to monitor the sewer system.
By LORRI HELFAND
Published July 12, 2006
LARGO - City leaders are moving forward with a plan to combat wastewater overflows, an effort that could cost $100-million during the next decade. A recent analysis by the city revealed that about 30.5-million gallons of untreated wastewater overflowed or was discharged from Largo's sewer system during the last five years. In April, the city entered into an agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to meet environmental requirements. On Tuesday, city staff members outlined efforts that the city would make to meet Environmental Protection Agency requirements to reduce overflows as well. Responding to the EPA requirements will help prevent inspection by the agency's compliance officers, which could lead to stricter requirements and penalties. The city's plan includes measures for monitoring the system to find troubled areas and create initiatives to repair them. It also calls for using high-tech tools to analyze the impact of new development and evaluate alternatives to expand the capacity of the system to prevent future overflows. City staff members project a cost of $2.9-million to monitor and implement the multimillion-dollar plan during the next five years. The city's analysis showed that 98 percent of the overflows by volume were caused by major rains. A number of pipes didn't have the capacity to transport surges of wastewater to the treatment facility. There were about 195 overflow events during the last five years. Private collection systems, which were responsible for a small percentage of overflows by volume, accounted for 63 of those events. The plan also includes increased regulation of private systems that connect to the public sewer system. If the city is shelling out $100-million, Commissioner Gay Gentry said, those with private systems that are problematic may be assessed fines as well. "If you're causing part of the problem, you need to ante up some of the money along the way," she said. The plan, which will be submitted to the DEP and the EPA for review, is scheduled to come before the commission Aug. 1.
[Last modified July 11, 2006, 23:44:50]
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