Suncoast Waterkeeper: A look back and what's ahead

 A newsletter from the group that sued Sarasota County leading to major wastewater plant upgrades:

We want to wish a happy new year to the entire Suncoast Waterkeeper family.  Our waterways and natural areas support the local economy and quality of life.  Together, we fought to protect our water in 2021 and, with your help, will continue to work to preserve what makes the Suncoast special.   Here’s a look back at our work in 2021 and a preview of what we’re working on for 2022: Piney Point Piney Point has been a ticking time bomb.  Due to neglect and inaction, the State of Florida was forced to dump over 200 million gallons of contaminated water into Tampa Bay.  Over the course of 2021, we experienced some of the worst red tides, other harmful algae blooms and fish kills that we have ever seen.  The threat doesn’t end there.  Now the State of Florida and DEP are working to inject the wastewater into our aquifer without adequate testing or filtration.   That is why we launched and are continuing to pursue a federal lawsuit to safely close Piney Point with other partners and organizations in the region.   In addition to the lawsuit, we hosted educational forums and conducted advocacy campaigns to demand better from our local and state elected officials on Piney Point.   Stopping Sewage Spills    Our region has suffered from numerous sewage spills due to poor management of aging environmental infrastructure.  According to the City of Bradenton’s own reports, 160 million gallons of raw and partially treated sewage was dumped into the Manatee River over the last four years.  This contributed to declining conditions in our estuaries.  In 2021, we filed a notice of intent to sue the City of Bradenton over repeated sewage spills into our waterways.  We hope to resolve our case against Bradenton in 2022. Our previous sewage lawsuits have resulted in major investments in wastewater infrastructure and fewer sewage spills.  Together, we’re going to continue our work to reduce sewage spills on the Suncoast.  Water Quality Monitoring  To enjoy our waterways, we need to ensure that they are clean.  We sample water quality weekly to keep our community informed about the water they rely on for recreation, work and more.  In 2022, because of your support, we’ll continue to monitor water quality in our waterways.   Monitoring Public Information & Demanding Accountability In many ways, regulation and oversight in Florida is broken.  Our regulators have repeatedly ignored or failed to address threats to our water quality, quality of life and local economy.  That’s why we regularly monitor public records for information on water quality, pollution, harmful algae blooms and new and existing projects.  Monitoring this information allows us to let you know what is happening in our community and lets us know when we need to take action.   Your support means that we’ll be able to continue to work to protect our water.  We can’t afford to let pollution, contamination and inaction from our government officials threaten our water, quality of life and local economy.  Together, we’ll continue to make a difference in 2022.  Thank you,  Suncoast Waterkeeper http://www.suncoastwaterkeeper.org/

Ayech on Piney Point

September 22, 2021

RE: Piney Point

Good day

This email is on behalf of two organizations and my family.

The Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida (ECOSWF) is an umbrella group composed of environmental organizations, historic preservation organizations and individuals.  Some of which are your constituent

ECOSWF has been involved in water use for the last 50 years.

ECOSWF has consistently opposed deep well injection.

Here are case studies:

• For many years, Manatee County has had an Aquifer and Storage Recover (ASR) well near Manatee Reservoir.  The theory was excess water would be removed from the Reservoir and injected in the ground causing a “bubble” from which the injected water could be extracted for public supply.  We know the water retrieved from the ASR well was not the same water that was injected because the water quality was different.

• The Peace River Regional Water Authority used deep well injection in their ASR program.  The result was the pyrites released arsenic into the area of injection because the water chemistry of surface water is not the same as ground water.  For years, the authority was not given permission to use the water from those wells for public supply.  Years of purging the well took place to remove reduce the arsenic levels to acceptable one.

• The phosphate industry used to put “recharge” wells under their gypsum stacks.  The water would drain into the well and go into the aquifer.  The town of Mulberry actually heard the rumbling that accord as the acidic water ate away the limestone and bubbled up.  Tanker trucks of fuel oil were brought in and the fuel oil was dumped into the wells.  The result, when people on wells turned on their faucets, fuel oil came out.

There is also an argument espoused that says the injected water will not affect aquifers that are used by the public and agriculture.  The words FOR NOW should be inserted.

We used to have free flowing wells, but anthropogenic actions changed that.  So, we drilled our wells deeper.  With the existing growth in Florida, we DO NOT KNOW how deep we will eventually need to go.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s (SWFWMD) Southern Water Use Caution Area is declared because of saltwater moving into the coast from the Gulf and upconing of poorer mineralized water from the DEEPER AQUIFERS.

This shows movement of water inland and upward.

Although SWFWMD requires wells to be cased to the aquifer from which they are withdrawing, it is not enforced.  Both agriculture wells and the City of Sarasota’s Verna Wellfield are improperly constructed because they are not cased to the confining layer from which they withdraw.

The Miakka Community Club’s members rely solely on domestic wells now and into the future to meet their daily water needs.  There is a real potential for the movement of the injected water to contaminate the wells in the future.

My family relies on our domestic well.  I am on my third well because of the continued lowering of the water pressure/level.  Each well has had to go deeper and the water quality continues to decline with each new well and on a continuing daily basis.

THERE IS NO PROGRAM TO TEST DOMESTIC WELL WATER.  A domestic well only is tested for secondary drinking water standards and that is only when the well is drilled.

And it is important to remember, the existing rules and regulations state my well will not and cannot be impacted.  So much for the protection afforded by those regulations.

I am asking you on behalf of ECOSWF, Miakka Community Club and my family to NOT pursue deep injection.

Out of mind, out of sight is not a solution.  You are changing one problem for another.  One that will not easily be seen or detected.

Finally, I want to point out that in June of 2003, DEP was hoping to send water to the reclaimed water plants in Hillsborough and Manatee counties to the city of St. Petersburg and possibly to other phosphate plants that can use the water for continued fertilizer processing. (Herald Tribune, June 25, 2003).  What happened with that proposal?

Becky Ayech

ECOSWF President

Miakka Community Club President

Domestic well user.