More Bad News for the Citizens on Sewer Systems
As this medium has been attempting to have our elected officials reconsider their decision to go ahead with sewers, we once again bring to their attention how - for the most part - beuracratic control of processing sewage is not what they have been promissed or have promissed us.
Since us citizens are the ones that have to suffer the long term consequences of today's actions, we raise to the level of liability the health and economic impact when these processing plants fail. And notice that its not if they will fail, but when.
This gem from the August 4, 2006 New York Times:
Washington is the second most environmentally regulated state in the country - second only to California - which as has already been reported in these pages, has the most polluted beaches from sewage.
It is once again urged that consideration must be given to the liability when these plants fail. It is not too late to reconsider.
Once again it is proven that it is folly to take the word of the EPA and the myriad governmental departments when they attest to the adequacy of the treatment plant and related systems. As one can clearly see, it is meaningless. Don't believe it? Ask the folks in California and Oregon and Washington.
With many on the council making their only priority anything that is good for business is good for Marco Island, consider how good business will be when the beaches start closing due to sewage contamination. If you think that the real estate cabal on the island can't sell now because of hurricanes and interest rates, watch them sell when the daily paper has a section right under the tide schedule showing which areas of the beach are closed. (Fiction you think? Pick up a copy of the San Diego Union Tribune).
Can we please reconsider this sewer deal? For the sake of Marco Island's economic health and more importantly, for the sake of our own health?
Since us citizens are the ones that have to suffer the long term consequences of today's actions, we raise to the level of liability the health and economic impact when these processing plants fail. And notice that its not if they will fail, but when.
This gem from the August 4, 2006 New York Times:
Washington is the second most environmentally regulated state in the country - second only to California - which as has already been reported in these pages, has the most polluted beaches from sewage.It is once again urged that consideration must be given to the liability when these plants fail. It is not too late to reconsider.
Once again it is proven that it is folly to take the word of the EPA and the myriad governmental departments when they attest to the adequacy of the treatment plant and related systems. As one can clearly see, it is meaningless. Don't believe it? Ask the folks in California and Oregon and Washington.
With many on the council making their only priority anything that is good for business is good for Marco Island, consider how good business will be when the beaches start closing due to sewage contamination. If you think that the real estate cabal on the island can't sell now because of hurricanes and interest rates, watch them sell when the daily paper has a section right under the tide schedule showing which areas of the beach are closed. (Fiction you think? Pick up a copy of the San Diego Union Tribune).
Can we please reconsider this sewer deal? For the sake of Marco Island's economic health and more importantly, for the sake of our own health?
posted by Mario R. Sanchez, Ph.D. at
1:38 PM
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Number of Comments: 6
CLICK HERE TO VIEW&POST COMMENTS
6 Comments:
Can we ask Florida's Department Of Environmental Protection to intervene to prevent these problems?
By
Anonymous, at Friday, August 11, 2006 6:08:00 PM
This gem (probably old news to some) provided to me by the county attorney Thomas Palmer:
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Fla. Stat. § 381.00655
LexisNexis (R) Florida Annotated Statutes
Copyright (c) 2006 by Matthew Bender & Company, Inc. a member of the LexisNexis Group.
All rights reserved.
*** THIS DOCUMENT IS CURRENT THROUGH THE 2006 REGULAR SESSION, ACTS 1 TO 117 ***
*** ANNOTATIONS CURRENT THROUGH JULY 7, 2006 ***
TITLE 29. PUBLIC HEALTH (Chs. 381-408)
CHAPTER 381. PUBLIC HEALTH: GENERAL PROVISIONS
GO TO FLORIDA STATUTES ARCHIVE DIRECTORY
Fla. Stat. § 381.00655 (2006)
STATUS: CONSULT SLIP LAWS CITED BELOW FOR RECENT CHANGES TO THIS DOCUMENT
LEXSEE 2006 Fl. ALS 252 -- See section 5.
§ 381.00655. Connection of existing onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems to central sewerage system; requirements
(1) (a) The owner of a properly functioning onsite sewage treatment and disposal system, excluding an approved onsite graywater system, must connect the system or the building's plumbing to an available publicly owned or investor-owned sewerage system within 365 days after written notification by the owner of the publicly owned or investor-owned sewerage system that the system is available for connection. The publicly owned or investor-owned sewerage system must notify the owner of the onsite sewage treatment and disposal system of the availability of the central sewerage system. No less than 1 year prior to the date the sewerage system will become available, the publicly owned or investor-owned sewerage system shall notify the affected owner of the onsite sewage treatment and disposal system of the anticipated availability of the sewerage system and shall also notify the owner that the owner will be required to connect to the sewerage system within 1 year of the actual availability. The owner shall have the option of prepaying the amortized value of required connection charges in equal monthly installments over a period not to exceed 2 years from the date of the initial notification of anticipated availability. Nothing in this section shall operate to impair contracts or other binding obligations relating to payment schedules in existence as of October 1, 1993. Nothing in this paragraph limits the power of a municipality or county to enforce other laws for the protection of the public health and safety.
(b) The owner of an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system that needs repair or modification to function in a sanitary manner or to comply with the requirements of ss. 381.0065-381.0067 or rules adopted under those sections must connect to an available publicly owned or investor-owned sewerage system within 90 days after written notification from the department. In hardship cases, upon request of the owner, the department may approve an extension of not more than 90 days for sewerage connection. The department may approve only one extension. This paragraph does not authorize the owner of the onsite sewage treatment and disposal system to create or maintain a sanitary nuisance.
(2) The provisions of subsection (1) or any other provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding:
(a) The local governing body of the jurisdiction in which the owner of the onsite sewage treatment and disposal system resides may provide that any connection fee charged under this section by an investor-owned sewerage system may be paid without interest in monthly installments, over a period of time not to exceed 5 years from the date the sewerage system becomes available if it determines that the owner has demonstrated a financial hardship. The local governing body shall establish criteria for making this determination which take into account the owner's net worth, income, and financial needs.
(b) A publicly owned or investor-owned sewerage system may, with the approval of the department, waive the requirement of mandatory onsite sewage disposal connection if it determines that such connection is not required in the public interest due to public health considerations.
HISTORY: s. 2, ch. 93-151.
By
Anonymous, at Monday, August 14, 2006 12:18:00 PM
"Number of sewer spills on Marco Island between June 2003 and June 2004: Your choice ... None, not one ever! (Source: A. William Moss, Marco Island City Manager) or 8 (State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection "
Hey congratulations to Marco Island Utilities. Apparently they know how to run a sewage processing system.
By
Anonymous, at Friday, August 18, 2006 12:53:00 PM
Just checked DEP records shows Marco Island had 9 reported spills during the period June 2003 and September 2004. Guess Moss misspoke or some such thing.
By
Anonymous, at Tuesday, August 22, 2006 11:59:00 AM
Confirmed the DEP records. Additionally, there are other "incidents" that don't qualify as spills - but i as of yet am unable to ascertain what in the world an "incident" to a sewage treatment plant means. I have two calls in and am awaiting a return call.
One technique I found quite "amusing" in Lalifornia was that the spills were no longer reported in the papers - hence the 1% that read the papers assumed there were no spills. Oddly enough, right under the tide tables there was a longer list of beach closing due to sewage seeping into the ocean that due to tides made the way to the beaches and hence the beach closings. So, ignorance is bliss.
As a scientist I also found that those who rely on what they are told (esp. by the media) fall to the worse fault in logic: "Absence of proof is proof of absence". NEVER is that true - and worse still when we rely on "our" government to provide the evidence on this matter.
By
Anonymous, at Tuesday, August 22, 2006 6:56:00 PM
sign of things to come ?
BOIL WATER NOTICE
September 25, 2006
Due to a breakdown of the Lime Reactor and a power failure, the turbidity of the treated water leaving the Lime Plant has increased. As a result, finished water turbidity standards have been exceeded. The water system is currently working to repair the Lime reactor. After the repairs are completed, Marco Island Utilities will collect and analyze water samples for two consecutive days throughout the distribution system for bacteria.
The Marco Island water plant routinely monitors your drinking water for turbidity (cloudiness). This helps in determining if the facility is effectively filtering the water supply. A finished water sample taken from the Marco Island water plant on September 22, 2006, showed a turbidity level of 1.35 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTUs). This is above the standard of 1 NTU. In addition, the Marco Island drinking water system generated a turbidity/treatment technique violation for the month of September-2006, because the combined filter effluent Turbidity exceeded 0.3 NTUs in more than 5% of the samples, which were collected during the month. Exceeding the 1 NTU standard for Turbidity, and exceeding the 0.3 NTU standard in more than 5% of the monthly samples, are violations of Rule 62-550.817, Florida Administrative Code, and 40 CFR 141.173.
Please note that since the Marco Island public drinking water system also provides drinking water to the Goodland Water District, all customers of these water systems are required to be notified of the Turbidity violations.
What should you do?
DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST. Bring all water to a boil, let it boil for one minute, and let it cool before using, or use bottled water. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth, and food preparation until further notice. Using ice makers and the ice produce should be restricted during this boil water notice.
Turbidity has no health effects. However, turbidity can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. Turbidity may indicate the presence of disease causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites, which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches. People with severely compromised immune systems, infants, and some elderly may be at increased risk. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers.
The symptoms above are not caused only by organisms in drinking water. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice.
For more information, please contact Ron Weiss at 239 394-3353. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1(800) 426-4791. Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
Lisa M. Douglass
Public Information Coordinator
City of Marco Island
50 Bald Eagle Drive
Marco Island, Florida 34145
239-389-5037
www.cityofmarcoisland.com
ldouglass@cityofm arcoisland.com
By
Anonymous, at Monday, September 25, 2006 9:10:00 PM
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