The enemy is in Reef Rescue's sights, and knows it!

Sewage operator ponders options

By Antigone Barton

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

The sewer plant that sought permission last year to continue discharging
partly treated waste into the ocean for another five years now has asked
the state to hold off on issuing a permit while the plant investigates
alternative ways to dispose of the waste.

For the past year, the sewer plant serving Delray Beach and Boynton
Beach has continued to discharge 13 million gallons a day of partly
treated sewage without a current permit while negotiating a plan to
monitor the effects on a nearby coral reef. The state received that plan
Tuesday, setting the stage for a new permit, Department of Environmental
Protection spokesman Stephen Webster said.

But a DEP official agreed to delay drafting a permit until the sewer
plant's board meets next week to discuss other disposal methods.

As the plant's proposal to further filter and disinfect the sewage and
then inject it deep into the ground would take at least two years to
implement, the agency probably will proceed with its plan to issue a
two-year permit. That permit would require testing but set no limits on
the amounts of potentially algae-feeding pollutants the plant can
discharge, DEP assistant district director Tim Rach said.

County environmental officials have asked the state twice to restrict
the amount of nutrient-laden pollutants that the plant can discharge
into the ocean. Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management
officials have cited reports linking a bloom of toxic algae on the reef
to the amounts of nutrients the plant discharges into the sea, and cited
the economic value of the reef, estimated to bring $194 million a year
to Palm Beach County and to sustain 6,000 jobs here.

The DEP did not respond to the requests, said resources management
Director Richard Walesky, but the DEP's Rach recently said the agency
has not seen proof that partly treated sewage harms the ocean.

(This is the kind of horseshit we face. The department of environmental
protection is unaware of thousands of studies proving harm, resulting in
closure of hundreds of thousands of sewer outfalls. They say this shit
with a straight face. - esg)

After divers noticed toxic algae on the Gulf Stream Reef directly
downstream of the plant's discharge pipe four years ago, they formed the
nonprofit Reef Rescue which reported the bloom to DEP officials. When
DEP officials did not respond to that report, the group submitted three
more reports, using data from the sewer plant and showing a correlation
between the amount of nutrients discharged and the growth of the algae.

The DEP has since invited Reef Rescue to review the plant's monitoring plan.

DEP Secretary Colleen Castille sent an e-mail to Reef Rescue Director Ed
Tichenor in August saying she and other agency officials, "frankly just
don't believe it is good policy to have low-treated wastewater spewed
onto our reefs."

Studies dating to the '90s have linked ocean sewage discharge to algae
blooms and the resulting death of coral reefs.

Recently, however, the DEP chalked up county environmental officials'
concerns to "some sort of relationship between the county and the Reef
Rescue group," Webster said.

Tichenor reacted by saying, "That's like, if we say it's a good idea to
wash your hands after you go to bathroom, and the county agrees with us,
that means we have a relationship?"

Walesky said, "We certainly share some of the conclusions they've drawn
from the utility's data."

************************************************** ******************

We MUST KEEP THE PRESSURE ON!

Support Reef Rescue.

mike gray wrote:

> Sewage operator ponders options
>
> By Antigone Barton
>
> Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
>
> Wednesday, December 06, 2006
>
> The sewer plant that sought permission last year to continue discharging
> partly treated waste into the ocean for another five years now has asked
> the state to hold off on issuing a permit while the plant investigates
> alternative ways to dispose of the waste.

Time is money ... Wasted time is more money.


> For the past year, the sewer plant serving Delray Beach and Boynton
> Beach has continued to discharge 13 million gallons a day of partly
> treated sewage without a current permit while negotiating a plan to
> monitor the effects on a nearby coral reef. The state received that plan
> Tuesday, setting the stage for a new permit, Department of Environmental
> Protection spokesman Stephen Webster said.

Why only partly treated? What about
nitrification-denitrification, phosphat-fallout processes?


> But a DEP official agreed to delay drafting a permit until the sewer
> plant's board meets next week to discuss other disposal methods.




> As the plant's proposal to further filter and disinfect the sewage and
> then inject it deep into the ground would take at least two years to
> implement, the agency probably will proceed with its plan to issue a
> two-year permit. That permit would require testing but set no limits on
> the amounts of potentially algae-feeding pollutants the plant can
> discharge, DEP assistant district director Tim Rach said.

Filter and desinfect sounds a bit scary to me, though I am
unaware of the current SOTA in your sewage water treatment.
A biological final treatment should cure this satisfactorily.


> County environmental officials have asked the state twice to restrict
> the amount of nutrient-laden pollutants that the plant can discharge
> into the ocean.

If it doesn't contain heavy metals (sic), why not use it as
a fertilizer?

Some cities here sell the decomposed stuff as fertile soil.
All it does is smell a little like ammonia, until this has
been broken down by oxygen and UV rays.


> Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management
> officials have cited reports linking a bloom of toxic algae on the reef
> to the amounts of nutrients the plant discharges into the sea, and cited
> the economic value of the reef, estimated to bring $194 million a year
> to Palm Beach County and to sustain 6,000 jobs here.

Excellent. This is the road to sustainable development.
Put a value on the environment.

> The DEP did not respond to the requests, said resources management
> Director Richard Walesky, but the DEP's Rach recently said the agency
> has not seen proof that partly treated sewage harms the ocean.

The usual blinders. Cyano bacteria would say the same.



> (This is the kind of horseshit we face. The department of environmental
> protection is unaware of thousands of studies proving harm, resulting in
> closure of hundreds of thousands of sewer outfalls. They say this shit
> with a straight face. - esg)

Closure? What do they do instead? Invest in new processing
plants?


> Studies dating to the '90s have linked ocean sewage discharge to algae
> blooms and the resulting death of coral reefs.

Not only reefs. Dinoflagellates and others release powerful
gaseous toxins known as nerve gas.

Hold on.

Matthias

> There are only six active sewer outfalls left in SoFla, many states have
> none. This one is especially damaging as it dumps right onto the reef
> line. All must be shut down as soon as possible.

What Mike didn't mention, at least I didn't see him mention, is that the
DelRay outfall was originally permitted for a site about a mile further out
to sea and in much deeper water. Had it been put where it was supposed to
be in the first place, chances are good we would not be addressing this
issue now.

As for sanitizing the effluent, there's more to the problem than that. No
matter how sanitary it is, it still contains the same chemicals, some of
which are believed (with lots of evidence) to foster rapid algae growth,
exactly what has been noticed on the reefs just north of the outfall. This
indirect effect of the effluent is more significant to the reefs survival
than the fact that it's only partially treated sewage.

Lee

Lee Bell wrote:
>>There are only six active sewer outfalls left in SoFla, many states have
>>none. This one is especially damaging as it dumps right onto the reef
>>line. All must be shut down as soon as possible.
>
>
> What Mike didn't mention, at least I didn't see him mention, is that the
> DelRay outfall was originally permitted for a site about a mile further out
> to sea and in much deeper water. Had it been put where it was supposed to
> be in the first place, chances are good we would not be addressing this
> issue now.

True, it was supposed to go out another mile and a half, and that's
apparently what the sewer plant paid for. Most of the other outfalls do
go out into deeper water.

But that is not a solution. Now that we're finally diving the real deep
reef system along the Miami Terrace, which is an elaborate reef system
that runs from south of Miami up to Boca, we're finding stuff that is
truly amazing. That system is about 15 miles out, and beyond PADI's
recreational limits (650 - 2000 feet). (See WWW.HBOI.EDU )

The answer is not to dump our shit in between, instead of on top of, the
reef systems. The answer is to treat it and/or dump it where it won't
damage the environment. That can be done, it takes money that the towns
don't want to spend. We have to force them to make an investment in 21st
century technology.

m

Matthias Voss wrote:

> You know they said of catalytic exhasust treatment, the gas
> coming out of a cars exhaust was cleaner than the ambient air?
> Same here for sewage water.
> Where in former times we had aboundant life in the near
> vicinity of outlets, nowadays sealife is as sparse as it is
> everywhere, due to the biologic end treatment of sewage.

They say the same thing about the sewage plants here but I don't want
to be the guy who demonstrates it. Every time a camera crew shows up at
one of the treatment plants someone dips a glass in the outflow and
takes a swig.
Our big problem is the storm sewers. Every time it rains a load of dog
shit gets flushed into the lake. It's better now than it used to be but
they still close half the beaches for half the summer. Scoop it up.
I think there's a pretty good chance that we'll be the first generation
to ever improve the environment before handing it down. But that's
going to take a lot of work at the local level to get the job done. I'd
like to commend Reef Rescue for doing their part.

Cam

All this cited below reminds me of a tactic I used in sports
training.

" did it hurt like that already three laps before?"

" yesssiddoes"

"OK, when it ain't gotten worse, you may continue for
another five laps"..

Matthias




Lee Bell wrote:

>>>>Atlantic currents actually flow north, as Reef Rescue assumed.
>
>
>>Let me assure you it does.... Part of it comes down again at the Canarys.
>>How should it be able when it didn't go up first?
>>Can't remember the Inuit saying there are holes grwing in the water.
>>As long as the Gulf stream keeps flowing...
>
>
> Let me assure you that the question is not as easy as you think. The Gulf
> Stream runs a few miles off shore along Florida's east coast. While it
> consistently runs north, the currents along the reefs are not as consistent.
> The Gulf Stream throws off eddies all along its route that, depending on
> where you are, can be flowing north, south, east or west. Some of the
> currents are pretty consistent. Others aren't.
>
> I'm more than a little shocked to see the words "Reef Rescue assumed." in
> the sentence above. I'd be very surprised if that is a correct statement.
> As I recall, Reef Rescue has tested the waters at the reef and found the
> same pollutants there, that were being pumped out to the south. If I'm
> correct, then Reef Rescue knows which way the currents are flowing over the
> reefs that are most vulnerable. There's only one place those chemicals can
> be coming from.
>
> As a further note, Reef Rescue has also charted algae blooms against high
> points in the outfall's flow, times when the sewage treatment people pumped
> more, and higher concentrations of the stuff that's doing the damage than
> their permits allow.
>
> Not only did they put the outfall in the wrong place, they are pumping more
> than they are allowed by their permit, 12 months after their permits expired
> . . . and nobody's doing a damned thing about it.
>
> Lee
>
>

mike gray wrote

> Scientific study of the obvious is the foot-dragger's favorite tool.

Ain't that the damned truth.

>> . . . and nobody's doing a damned thing about it.

> Wrong! Reef Rescue is doing something about it and making progress. We
> WILL get this outfall shut down.

Not once has anybody said, move the damned outfall and not once has anybody
said, your permit is expired, stop dumping or else, and meant it.

Reef Rescue is doing the best it can, but it ain't done anything but make
noise so far. We'll keep our fingers crossed, and our support flowing, in
hopes that you'll be right. We may not succeed in doing a damned thing, but
one thing is certain. If we don't, nobody else will.

Keep up the good work.

Lee

Lee Bell wrote:

>
> Not once has anybody said, move the damned outfall and not once has anybody
> said, your permit is expired, stop dumping or else, and meant it.
>
> Reef Rescue is doing the best it can, but it ain't done anything but make
> noise so far. We'll keep our fingers crossed, and our support flowing, in
> hopes that you'll be right. We may not succeed in doing a damned thing, but
> one thing is certain. If we don't, nobody else will.

Moving the outfall is not an option. An alternative to dumping in the
ocean is.

It's a long, slow process. Even when we finally force the plant to
develop an alternative, there are the engineering studies, bond issues,
and construction before the outfall is finally plugged. The shit will
flow for a couple years after we have won.

I'd like a judge to say "stop", because the daily fines would then begin
to accumulate, contingent on a realistic plan to replace the plant. But
an immediate end to dumping is unrealistic.

And SoFla has five more outfalls, each of which will dump for another
century if we don't take a few years to shut them down.

m

"mike gray" <scrubadub@att.net> wrote in message
news:iWheh.8068$sf5.6234@newsread4.news.pas.earthl ink.net...

> And SoFla has five more outfalls, each of which will dump for another
> century if we don't take a few years to shut them down.

If you havent already, you need to do a public outreach, as in seminars and
such to get the local bluehairs on board. Tell them what will happen to
their property taxes if this isnt addressed pro-actively and quickly.

Some couldnt care less, but some will be outraged to learn their sewage is
being used to kill the ocean.