Utility directors fight proposed wastewater disposal changes

By SHELBY OPPEL

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 11, 2000

TALLAHASSEE -- A coalition of public utility directors from St. Petersburg to Miami spoke out Thursday against proposed changes to federal rules governing wastewater disposal.

The Florida Water Environment Association Utility Council, including officials from St. Petersburg and Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, said the stricter requirements for treating wastewater are unnecessary, costly and sure to lead to higher bills. The proposal by the federal Environmental Protection Agency would force public utilities to pass tougher standards in order to continue pumping treated wastewater 3,000 feet underground. The change would affect 30 Florida counties and cities that use so-called "deep well injection" to dispose of wastewater, including St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg could spend $100-million to $400-million to meet the new requirements, said Fred Crafa, the city's water quality assessment manager. The alternative is for the city to break with current practice and begin flushing treated wastewater into Boca Ciega Bay or Tampa Bay, Crafa said.

Currently, St. Petersburg gets rid of about half of its wastewater by treating it and re-distributing it as "reclaimed water" for lawn care and other non-drinking purposes. The other half is treated and pumped into the underground wells.

In the past, the EPA has objected to deep well injection because the treated water migrates upward, closer to the source of Florida's drinking water. With the latest proposal, the agency has essentially okayed the water's migration, but it is demanding the water meet higher treatment standards before it is pumped underground.

The higher standards are unnecessary, the utility directors say, because the treated water doesn't migrate far enough upward to be plumbed for drinking water. Besides, the injected, treated wastewater is cleaner than the brackish water it "pollutes" as it migrates upward, the directors say.

The EPA will hold public hearings on the proposal in Tampa and West Palm Beach. The Tampa hearings will be held Aug. 22, from 1 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 9 p.m. at Travelodge, 820 E Busch Blvd.

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