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State DEP looking into Aloha Utilities

Saturday, a resident complained about sewage bubbling from manhole covers.

By DAVID DeCAMP
Published November 14, 2006

TRINITY - The state Department of Environmental Protection is investigating Aloha Utilities after complaints of sewage overflows into neighborhood streets and ponds.

Officials say the complaints go back months. The latest came Saturday, when an angry resident sent an e-mail to state officials after finding a broken lift station and sewage "bubbling from the manhole covers."

Wayne Forehand of Trinity Oaks saw the lift station's warning light flashing red and called the mess along Kinsmere Drive the "biggest sewage overflow I have ever seen."

But Aloha president Steve Watford said the company's only contact with the state agency has been filing the usual reports.

"We are not aware of any investigation they are doing," he said.

The lift station did fail over the weekend and a week and a half before that, he said, but crews repaired it and reports were sent to the DEP. Watford said the malfunction Saturday spilled up to 300 gallons of sewage, and a failure the previous week spilled up to 50 gallons through a manhole.

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, said Forehand's complaints prompted him to contact state officials to set up a meeting over the utility's service. During that phone call, DEP district director Deborah Getzoff told him a significant investigation was taking place, said Fasano, an Aloha customer.

"I told her, 'If this was the county, you'd be fining them millions of dollars, and since it's a private company, you give them a slap on the wrist,' " said Fasano, referring to a recent DEP order over a series of major violations by Pasco County's utility system.

"And she assured me it won't be a slap on the wrist."

DEP spokeswoman Pamala Vazquez said the state is investigating repeated violations by Aloha, but said detailed findings were unavailable because reports are still being finished.

She said the state previously fined Aloha nearly $90,000. The current cycle of complaints being reviewed started in July, she said. But agency officials asked Fasano and Forehand to be patient, she said, noting that the DEP did not "want to put all its cards on the table."

"We have not slapped Aloha Utilities on the wrist. We have fined them," Vazquez said. "In this case, we have recurring issues we are investigating. ... So we've had to up the ante a little."

Forehand chided the state agency for not acting fast enough, but Vazquez, who has received Forehand's complaints, said state regulators have responded to every complaint. Last year, they tested four ponds for bacteria and other contaminants from previous spills, but found no health hazards. Now, she said, the agency is "going beyond fixing a lift station" to address why breakdowns have occurred.

The utility, which serves more than 25,000 people, settled a 10-year fight over water quality with the Florida Public Service Commission this year.

The deal cleared a series of cases against the utility. Aloha is supposed to install a $6-million filtration system to improve water quality. The deal also allows Aloha to pass on part of the cost to customers.

David DeCamp can be reached at 727 869-6232 or ddecamp@sptimes.com.

[Last modified November 13, 2006, 23:43:58]