In less than three months, DeBary will have to show the state how to clean Gemini Springs when sewage treatment plants and urban turf grass manure are exposed to excessive nitrogen pollution.
And those plans could last 20 years and more than $ 50 million once they are established, city administrator Carmen Rosamonda said.
“It’s another mandate and another burden on local governments with no funding whatsoever,” Rosamonda said on Friday by phone.
Because of this, he believes the state should pay the cost of removing the over 2,000 septic tanks in the Gemini Springs priority area, which the Department of Environment defines as “vulnerable areas” where sources of pollution are most at risk due to their proximity a spring and permeable [sandy] Soil conditions. “
“If we don’t team up, every resident will have to install a modern, advanced treatment system in their garden,” said Rosamonda.
These decentralized systems can cost anywhere from $ 10,000 to $ 20,000 to install, depending on the type, with annual inspection and maintenance costs ranging from $ 250 to $ 1,500.
The plans that DeBary is working on with Volusia County and the state will be presented to the Department of Environmental Protection by June 30th.
Once the plans are approved, the city will look for grants to help keep homeowner costs down as much as possible. However, the hope is that the residents will incur no costs at all.
“Without a plan, the chance of getting some of that money is next to zero,” said Mike Ulrich, director of water resources and utilities for Volusia County.
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The need to devise a plan stems from the Florida Springs and Aquifers Conservation Act of 2016, in which state lawmakers identified 30 “outstanding Florida Springs,” one of which is Gemini Springs. In Volusia County, Blue Spring and DeLeon Springs also received this designation.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection found that 24 of these 30 springs, including the three in Volusia County, were affected by excessive nitrate pollution.
The law requires the adoption of pool management action plans, commonly known as BMAPs, to ensure levels of pollutants in the sources are below the established maximum total daily loads. The law also requires the adoption of strategies to ensure that the water levels of the springs do not fall below the established minimums.
What’s in the water?
In Gemini Springs, where the current nutrient load is about 20,496 pounds per year, urban turf grass fertilizers make up 46% and septic tanks make up 41%.
The nitrogen polluting the springs ends up in the groundwater, the source of drinking water.
Other contributors are: 5% atmospheric deposit; 4% sport turf grass fertilizer; 3% sewage treatment plant; 1% agricultural fertilizer; and 0.1% animal waste according to the Gemini Springs BMAP.
Herb Reed, who lives in the focal area, suggested that every DeBary resident should pay at cost for it, especially since urban turf grass fertilizer is the larger pollutant and there is no way to identify those who continue to use it.
“I think they should have some kind of skin in the game,” Reed said during a workshop for residents who live in the focus area.
The city council passed an ordinance in June 2017 to address the fertilizer problem.
According to the regulation:
- No fertilizer in summer from June to September.
- The fertilizer applied from October to May must be at least 50% slow-release nitrogen.
- Don’t apply phosphorus to your lawn without a soil test.
- Fertilizer must be at least 15 feet from any body of water.
- Nitrogen or phosphorus fertilizers must not be applied before sowing or soaking a site and for the first 30 days after sowing or soaking.
“We try to achieve compliance through education,” said Rosamonda. “We’re working on both sides to clean up Gemini Springs.”
During the focus area residents workshop, attendees also heard from Terri Lowery, senior vice president of Jones Edmunds, an engineering and consulting firm.
According to Lowery, Florida residents make up about 6.5% of the country’s population, but the state has 12% of the country’s septic tanks.
According to Lowery, Volusia County has about 90,000 septic tanks, 50,000 of which are within BMAP limits. Each tank contributes about 8.2 pounds of nitrogen.
“What we often hear is that ‘my sewer system is working fine,’ and the truth is that a lot of the sewer systems are working fine, but traditional sewer systems were not designed to target nutrients,” Lowery said. “They are designed to protect human health.”
For the future
Lowery said that while the Department of Environmental Protection realizes it is asking a lot, “they are setting some aggressive targets regarding the amount of nitrogen that should be removed”.
14,270 pounds must be removed by 2038.
“It’s not something that will happen overnight,” said Rosamonda.
When moving to a centralized sewer system, Rosamonda expects the city to have water pipes as the streets are already being demolished. If residents connect to the water pipes, they can keep their wells and convert them for irrigation.
Rosamonda said additional benefits of the water pipes would be providing hydrants to areas where they don’t exist, which would reduce insurance costs. If the power goes out, the water and sewage will not be affected.
The aim is to supply the 2,300 apartments in the focus area over a period of five years. However, depending on funding, this could be an ongoing plan.
“That’s probably the biggest factor in this whole thing about how much money the state is going to give to local government,” said Rosamonda. “It’s competitive.”
He said the plans are likely to be finalized in May or early June and then presented to the city council before being handed over to the state.
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