Original Article:
http://www.floridasportfishing.com/magazine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1159&Itemid=51

Stop the Lake Worth Pipeline before it turns into another Delray disaster!

AS SEEN IN THE JULY / AUGUST 2007 ISSUE

I understand that the concept of human waste is a slippery one at best,
but what I don't understand is the astounding amount of stupidity it
must take to not understand the word "NO."

If
you hope to have the privilege of enjoying the oceans in something other than
an acid-resistant hydrofoil in the not so distant future, try it. Say "NO,”
to someone with a vested interest in our future. It's easy; just say “NO, you
can't lower the water levels in our lakes and rivers to the point where the
natural environment is no longer recognizable." Just say "NO, you
can't rip out mangroves that protect juvenile fish from predators and our
shorelines from backwash." Just say. "NO, you can't dump raw sewage
into our oceans or any other waterway for that matter.”

The South Central Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant
in Delray, one of six in the tri-county area, is flushing partially treated raw
sewage into the Atlantic Ocean from a pipe just 95 feet beneath the surface.
According to an initial report filed in 2003 by Ed Tichenor, Director of Palm
Beach County Reef Rescue, “That plant releases about thirteen million gallons
of treated waste every day, and it is approximately just one mile from a living
coral reef."

The coral reef in question is still breathing, but its
death rattle is becoming more audible, and believe it or not, the 13 million
gallons of treated sewage is just a drop in the old outhouse of life. Overall,
there are approximately 60,000 facilities in the Unites States in different
categorical levels that contribute a discharge of 700 billion pounds of
pollutants per year to the environment. So, how come we don't see it?

Florida has a wonderful natural vacuum cleaner
called the Gulf Stream. It flows from south to north. The width of the Florida
shelf, the submerged seascape between the beach and the continental shelf,
varies from as little as 2 km by West Palm Beach to as much as 100 km off St.
Augustine. The Gulf Stream washes the nutrient-laden waters being released
along the shelf by treatment facilities northward, and then far out to sea.
"A stiff southeast wind for a few days would do the same thing,” says
Captain Bill Taylor. At any rate, that is why we don't see the dangers lurking
in the partially treated sewage being dumped near our beaches. Perhaps if the
general public were educated on the commonly used terms for measurements in
reference to water quality, they would think twice before allowing little
Johnny to swim in water teeming with an abundance of bacteria, viruses and
parasites. Those are the dangers we need to worry about, not the general
indicators sometimes presented to appease the public.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "Enterococci, an infectious bacteria, cause urinary and gastrointestinal illness in both marine and fresh waters. These are swimming related incidents. The Enterococci cause illnesses in greater numbers than other indicators, and are less likely to die off in saltwater."

Ten thousand general coliform can close a beach down. You see, Mother Nature sometimes gives as good as she gets. We dump our waste on her, she flings it back with full force. Captain Taylor sees the destruction almost daily as he takes his charter boat the Black Dog out to sea. Reefs naturally attract both fish and fishing charters as part of the food chain. He first reeled up the green goop, red algae fed by the excess nutrients in the sewage, on his lines three to four years ago out past the Florida shelf. Now he sees it south of us, and closer to shore. Captain Taylor uses every opportunity he can to spread the word, and laments "Why do we have a Clean Water Act (CWA),” the primary federal law in the United States that governs water pollution, "if the people with the power to enforce it just yawn and turn away when violations are reported?"

The CWA is a good idea that suffers from poor execution at a local level, and that seems to be the crux of the problem. Laws are made, but no one enforces them unless someone finally yells long enough and loud enough. This attitude of “wait and see” seems to foster blindness, hearing problems, fear of paper work and an irresistible urge to play for time by calling for more studies. Perhaps if the fecal count were reported twice a week on the front page of the newspaper, people would stay more aware of the dangers that lurk just beneath the surface of that beautiful blue water, and demand accountability of the major stakeholders involved.

In 2006, three years after the initial report that was basically ignored by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Board of Directors of the treatment facility in Delray voted to eliminate the discharge pipes and investigate Deep Well Injection (DWI) options. The conversion cost to them would be $18 million which seems a small price to pay after 30-plus years of free flowing discharge.

In an interview with the Palm Beach Post dated January 2006, Chantell Collier, manager of the Miami based DEP Coral Reef Program, stated that, "Each meter of reef is estimated to protect $47,000 in property values, by mitigating the effects of coastal erosion and storms.”

So, if the conversion does not take place, and the discharge of feces and other nutrients continues unabated, we have the potential of losing better than $190 million a year in revenue from the fishing industries, 6,000 jobs, a magnificent natural reef and the property the reef protects. Of course, this investigation will more than likely take two or more years to complete, and in that time, the plant will not only continue dumping waste into the Atlantic Ocean at our expense, but it will be doing so
on an expired permit.

According to Ed Tichenor, this proposed effort is, at the very least, moving in a more promising direction. At this point, it is assumed that the treated wastewater would take longer to reach the ocean using the DWI method, and shall have passed through natural filtering and absorptions before it surfaces again, if at all. However, the Palm Beach Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation USA has a slightly different view. The Deep Well Injections under proposal are known as Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR). Surfrider states that by using the ASR system of injection, the wastewater would be forced through the ground vertically for a specific number of feet, to be disbursed naturally after that initial thrust. That is not a guarantee that the wastewater will not take the easiest path and travel through whatever cracks and crevices offer the least resistance. Additionally, of course, this means that there is a distinct possibility that the treated sewage might still make its way into other waterways, such as our rivers and lakes. One can assume that if the injections are made too close to the shoreline, there is nothing to say that the fecal mix won't eventually make it to the ocean, and someday maybe even wash up onto our already stressed, re-nourished beaches. Sadly, the threat does not end there.

The Lake Worth Pipeline will soon follow Delray Beach's lead by discharging wastewater adjacent to reefs that harbor endangered species of sea turtle and coral, but with one exception. Lake Worth will also explore the possibility of extending the outfall into deeper waters, according to Chris Wilkins of Reef Rescue. The ammonia that will be released by the pipeline is guestimated to be about 1,000 times greater than necessary to make reef algae bloom. It would be the responsibility of Lake Worth officials to keep an eye on nutrient pollution levels. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a lot like putting the fox in charge of the hen house?

Following their traditional pattern, the DEP has once again pronounced an edict with no teeth. The DEP has neglected to place a limit on the amount of nutrients to be discharged into the sea. What does this mean? It means that the City of Lake Worth was smart enough not to argue or question the DEP. That way, the city can interpret the ruling to its benefit and possibly increase, rather than limit, the amount of discharge. With the permit as it is written, the Lake Worth facility can discharge any level of nitrogen, ammonia and phosphorus they want, as long as there is no visual evidence that the reef is being adversely affected. Of course, by the time the damage can be seen, it may be irreversible. By not fully understanding the future damage that could be caused by dumping waste into our waters, Rob Ruzika of the Florida DEP admits that, "We never established a baseline of existing conditions. We never inventoried the biodiversity of the existing resources.”

All along the coast of Florida, permits are close to expiring. Some, like the Lake Worth draft permit will be extended, but have not been awarded yet. Will the holders of those permits be denied renewals? Will they be forced to convert to Deep Well Injections, too, or some other supposedly "safe" method of sewage disposal? These assumptions are not unlike the ones made 30 to 100 years ago by newly created treatment facilities, factories and farmers, when one or another must have said, "So what can it hurt?"

Fertilizer in the form of human waste, added to other already existing nutrients acts like a super vitamin. It's like spinach to Popeye. The more it consumes, the bigger it gets. Super-sized algae tends to cover coral reefs to the point where it stops natural nutrients, sunlight and oxygen from reaching the coral. The algae literally smothers the coral to death. So, what can we do to help? Several websites and magazines offer the following guidance: Do not add to the pollutants that already exist. Use environmentally friendly cleaning chemicals and fertilizers. Never discharge garbage or human waste in the water, and don't leave trash on the beach. Recycle anything and everything. Report dumping or illegal activities. Don't anchor your boat on a reef, rather use a mooring buoy when available. Support your local conservation organizations. They are your voice. Support reef friendly businesses. Let them know you are an informed consumer. Volunteer for a reef clean-up. Try www.Reef-Rescue.org Do NOT buy exotic fish unless you know the collection method. Sometimes exotic species are collected for aquariums by stunning the fish with sodium cyanide (poison) to make catching them easier. Become more informed of local waste treatment policy, and then fight for your environment. Finally, spread the word!

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