A former resident of the Old Northeast, I now live in Broadwater.I am President of the civic association here and keep quite busy with issues. Now Piney Point wastewater is comming to our Northwest reclamation plant.
News coverage has been buried on the subject. We are in the experiment area for the City to truck hazerdous industrial treated wastewater to the plant,mix it with the reclaimed and sprinkle on our lawns, into our air and into our canals without our notice or permission. This will all be done with no long term testing for negative impact on landscape or health concerns. We are the guine pigs. The city will not even respond to our suggestions and the city council has done very little research.
The plan of the mayor is to take this water for the next 5 years to increase revenue for the city by increasing the amount of reclaimed water it can sell. The reason to do so that is publicly stated by the city is to help avert the disastor that looms over Tampa Bay if Piney Point stacks collasp and overflow.
If this short term test has no immediate impact the water will be barged to the Albert Whitted plant to be sprinkled on you lawns and all over the city. We have heard tapes of the Public Safety, Public Services and Infrastructure Committee on the research that has been done by the city council and it is very minimal at best and based on what the DEP has told them. I picked up a tape copy from City Hall and it scary to listen to. The entire motivation of this council is to increase revenue. As Ms Litteral says,''the City of St Pete. needs the DEP more than the DEP needs the city.'' The amount of water to be dumped here is not a drop in the bucket when looking at the larger problem. Why risk contaminating us if it will make no difference. We can't seem to get our message across to the other neighborhood associations as there has been no articles printed in the paper and we have been told that there will be No articles printed on this subject. We have sent numerous letters to the editor and have received not a even an acknowledgement.
Councilmen Litteral and Foster changed their vote to NO at an August 7 Public hearing that we were not given notice of, when some of us spoke our 3 minutes. By accident,we found out about the meeting subject,which was to change the long standing city ordinance that prohibits the taking of wastewater from outside the city services area . If you would like more info about how you can help to stop this test please call me . 856-6018 . We have a meeting Tuesday at 7pm at the Maximo resource center on 34th St and 48the Ave in the Maximo Mall. All are welcome.
Penny Flaherty

City has wrong solution

I'm a St. Petersburg resident that just recently became aware of how serious this looming environmental disaster may be.

I've heard several city politicians (and a few other community leaders) say that by trucking Piney Point water to St. Petersburg we will 'save the bay' from an ecological disaster. Sorry folks, but the numbers just don't work out that way.

Assuming that the six-month test period is successful, it is anticipated that the City will approve larger scale use of the Piney Point water, most likely by barging it to the Port of St. Petersburg and then pumping it into the Albert Whitted treatment plant. Assuming a maximum level of 3 parts wastewater to 97 parts reclaimed water the maximum amount of water that the Whitted plant can take will be about 330,000 gallons a day. That's LESS THAN 3% of the amount of water that is added to the Piney Point ponds by a single inch of rain! It is also about 10% of the daily amount currently being discharged into Bishop?’s Harbor.

Timing is a problem, too. It will be well into next year's rainy season before the tests are complete and the plan goes into effect...if then. The City's reclaimed water plan risks our health and property and it simply isn't going to be the solution to the potential environmental disaster at Piney Point.

I believe that the city's major motivation for this project is to stay in the good graces of the DEP. The city is currently operating their water treatment deep well injection sites under a consent decree from the DEP, and they want desperately to be able to keep these wells in operation. To do otherwise would require an estimated $110 million dollar investment in tertiary treatment, something that the city knows they need to do but have been putting off. IMHO the city's legal issues and permit requirements should stand on their own. If there is something wrong with our current water treatment process then we need to fix the problem, not just ask the DEP to look the other way.

I certainly would like to have a responsible, practical long-term plan for dealing with the Piney Point problem - given the environmental crisis, simply doing nothing isn't a option. It is interesting and disappointing that the most widely agreed environmental-friendly solution to the wastewater disposal issue (an onsite incinerator) was discussed and discarded by the DEP in early 2002 because ''The cost of incineration was estimated at more than $30 to $40 per 1,000 gallons of waste or 11 to 30 million dollars for treatment of the waste. In addition, it is estimated that it would take 18 months to construct the needed systems. Therefore, this alternative is not considered feasible due time constraints.?”. Well, that option is starting to look cheap now, and the 18 month time frame is almost up. If action had been taken early last year the incinerator would be in use by now.

Interesting reading for those that are interested:
http://www.epa.gov/region4/water/oceans/PineyPointNotification.pdf


By Travis Jarman