Post by Argo on Oct 18, 2005 6:55:41 GMT -5
Eco divers blow whistle on Florida's 'sewage coast' polluters
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BOYNTON BEACH, Florida (17 Oct 2005) -- State environmental regulators are investigating a pump that's dumping treated sewage into the Atlantic Ocean after recreational scuba divers said it was killing a coral reef.
The group, Palm Beach County Reef Rescue, says a pipe from the South Central Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant is spewing nitrogen-rich sewage that's fueling algae blooms. The algae are fouling the Gulf Stream Reef, a popular diving spot off Boynton Beach a mile and a half away from the pipe, the divers say.
"It's clear-cut," said Reef Rescue Director Ed Tichenor, a former New Jersey environmental consultant for private industry. "There are areas of (the reef) that look like a parking lot now."
Tichenor and others in the group have been collecting data on the material coming out of the pipe of the plant that is operated by the towns of Delray Beach and Boynton Beach.
Both the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Palm Beach County's environmental department say the group has built a compelling case.
"This once beautiful reef is only a shadow of its former self," Palm Beach County environmental director Richard Walesky wrote to the state.
But Plant Director Robert Hagel said he's not convinced that the pipe's effluent is hurting the reef, noting that algae blooms have been reported on other reefs under Gulf Stream waters.
"I don't think at the present time there's enough information that we have to verify what they're saying," Hagel said.
The plant has a permit to pump about 13 million gallons of treated sewage a day through the pipe. Palm Beach County officials have told plant officials to begin monitoring water near the pipe and the reef and try to come up with a way to lower the amount of nitrogen being pumped into the ocean. Plant officials were also told to look into whether extending the pipe farther out into the ocean might ease the impact on the reef.
The federal Clean Water Act requires sewage plants to demonstrate that their discharge doesn't degrade the water it goes into. There are no specific federal or state numeric limits, however, to regulate more precisely what levels of nutrients can go into the ocean.
Several pipes dump wastewater into the ocean off the Florida coast. Just near the Palm Beach County plant in question, other pipes operated by Boca Raton, Broward County and Hollywood flow into the sea.
The Delray Beach-Boynton Beach plant has already reduced its effluent flowing into the Atlantic by diverting some to agricultural irrigation, and has recently received a grant to expand that effort.
www.cdnn.info/news/eco/e051017.html
Powered by CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network
BOYNTON BEACH, Florida (17 Oct 2005) -- State environmental regulators are investigating a pump that's dumping treated sewage into the Atlantic Ocean after recreational scuba divers said it was killing a coral reef.
The group, Palm Beach County Reef Rescue, says a pipe from the South Central Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant is spewing nitrogen-rich sewage that's fueling algae blooms. The algae are fouling the Gulf Stream Reef, a popular diving spot off Boynton Beach a mile and a half away from the pipe, the divers say.
"It's clear-cut," said Reef Rescue Director Ed Tichenor, a former New Jersey environmental consultant for private industry. "There are areas of (the reef) that look like a parking lot now."
Tichenor and others in the group have been collecting data on the material coming out of the pipe of the plant that is operated by the towns of Delray Beach and Boynton Beach.
Both the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Palm Beach County's environmental department say the group has built a compelling case.
"This once beautiful reef is only a shadow of its former self," Palm Beach County environmental director Richard Walesky wrote to the state.
But Plant Director Robert Hagel said he's not convinced that the pipe's effluent is hurting the reef, noting that algae blooms have been reported on other reefs under Gulf Stream waters.
"I don't think at the present time there's enough information that we have to verify what they're saying," Hagel said.
The plant has a permit to pump about 13 million gallons of treated sewage a day through the pipe. Palm Beach County officials have told plant officials to begin monitoring water near the pipe and the reef and try to come up with a way to lower the amount of nitrogen being pumped into the ocean. Plant officials were also told to look into whether extending the pipe farther out into the ocean might ease the impact on the reef.
The federal Clean Water Act requires sewage plants to demonstrate that their discharge doesn't degrade the water it goes into. There are no specific federal or state numeric limits, however, to regulate more precisely what levels of nutrients can go into the ocean.
Several pipes dump wastewater into the ocean off the Florida coast. Just near the Palm Beach County plant in question, other pipes operated by Boca Raton, Broward County and Hollywood flow into the sea.
The Delray Beach-Boynton Beach plant has already reduced its effluent flowing into the Atlantic by diverting some to agricultural irrigation, and has recently received a grant to expand that effort.
www.cdnn.info/news/eco/e051017.html
