No
backsliding
Your
Feb. 4, 2004 editorial criticized state Rep. Ken
Sorensen for asking the state Department of
Environmental Protection to lower state water quality
standards. You probably were not aware that the
request was a limited inquiry about raising the
threshold for nitrogen removal only for small
treatment plants.
Since
I was one of the persons that asked Rep. Sorensen to
look into the issue, I thought it might be helpful for
your readers to consider the following:
1.
Currently, Ch. 99-395 (which Rep. Sorensen
co-sponsored) has the toughest water quality standards
in Florida. Treatment plants that produce more than
100,000 gallons per day (gpd) must meet Advanced
Wastewater Treatment (AWT) standards for nitrogen (TN)
at 5 milligrams per liter (mg/L). Treatment plants
that produce less than 100,000 gpd must meet Best
Available Technology (BAT) standards of TN to 10
mg/L.
2. The
Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District Board had
received conflicting information on whether our new
150,000 gpd plant can meet the AWT nitrogen standards
of 5, and whether the cost of doing so for this
relatively small plant is justified.
3. The
Implementing Report for Ch. 99-395, prepared by DEP in
December 2002, states:
Most
of the 60 AWT treatment plants in Florida produce more
than 500,000 gpd.‚
New
AWT systems for flows in the range of 100,000 gpd to 2
million gpd are estimated to be roughly 60 to 90
percent more expensive to construct than a
conventional secondary treatment
facility.‚
Operating
and maintaining a new AWT system in estimated to cost
60 to 80 percent more than that for a conventional
secondary treatment facility.‚
The
treatment plants that recently have been built with
nutrient removal capabilities do not have long enough
operating histories to draw firm conclusions as to the
practicality of achieving high levels of nutrient
reduction.
4.
According to the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority; tap
water contains TN of 3 mg/L. Therefore, treating to 10
mg/L instead of 5 mg/L reduces TN to 95 percent
instead of 98 percent, which could be insignificant
compared to the cost/benefit.The point I am trying to
make is that elected officials like Ken Sorensen are
doing their job (and are not "backsliding") when they
ask state agencies to rethink and reexamine their data
and conclusions, for the simple reason that wastewater
science is an emerging field of study, especially in
the Florida Keys. And, as noted in the Implementing
Report, with new information and new technology;
changes and modifications to the standards and how we
deal with the issues are inevitable.
Honestly
folks, everyone involved in wastewater issues, and
especially Ken Sorensen who is a tireless advocate for
funding for Monroe County, is trying to do the right
thing without wasting your money.
Andrew
Tobin, commissioner, Key Largo Wastewater
Board
