Swimming in Sewage

Less oversight and reduced regulation of the building industry have made our region a contender for the “Sewage Spill Capitol of the World.”

Contact with water contaminated with raw sewage can lead to ear or skin infections, and inhalation of contaminated water can cause respiratory diseases. Sewage spills pose a huge threat to the environment. Raw sewage can cause long-term environmental damage, kill fish, close beaches, and destroy shellfish beds.

Sewage spills pose an increased risk for toddlers and young children who play, wade, and swim in contaminated waters. Epidemiology studies have consistently found an association between gastrointestinal illness and exposure to contaminated waters.

Although the exact figure may never be known, after Hurricane Debby, the City of Sarasota discharged more than 17 million gallons of sewage into Sarasota Bay, and the City of Bradenton spilled at least 25 million gallons of sewage during Debby. The spills continue.

Historic mistakes have been made regarding stormwater discharges into our local water bodies. But we have yet to learn from many of these past mistakes. Stormwater treatment facilities are still being constructed and permitted without required monitoring of their discharge under allowable “presumptive criteria” guidelines. This is a problem not only in Sarasota and Manatee counties but also throughout Florida.

Independent compliance sampling of stormwater discharge is needed to document violations of water quality standards. This is made possible by the addition of required sampling through specific permit conditions. Unfortunately, such regulatory remedies are seldom, if ever, employed.

Continued population growth can predictably only aggravate existing water pollution problems under currently lax regulatory oversight. The high costs to the taxpayer of correcting these approaching deficiencies in water treatment are all but ignored—until, of course, another red tide and fish kill episode upsets the business community! On top of these approaching burdens, the costs of additional growth creating the need for even more services are not being dealt with, which is no longer being addressed through concurrency reviews for new development.

Every day that passes, Florida gains nearly 1,000 new permanent residents who demand an additional 111,000 gallons of water and generate 95,000 gallons of wastewater - not to mention their need for roads, parks, fire and police facilities, schools, and electric power.

Under the present tax sources, revenues won’t even come close to paying the costs associated with growth. All this subsidized growth and unmet infrastructure needs must be paid for, which means there will be less money to manage our environment.

The developers who bankroll political campaigns will benefit, and the rest of us will pay. Why this rush to shortchange the taxpayers and other public interests to reduce developers' expenses? To sum it up briefly, we are subsidizing a privileged few at the expense of the many.

The direct and secondary impacts of the recent sewage spills will result in unpermittable adverse impacts that will violate water quality standards and be contrary to the public interest. Local municipalities have failed to provide reasonable assurances that their continued sewage treatment operations will not adversely affect the conservation of fish and wildlife, including endangered or threatened species, or their habitats, or the health and well-being of the public.

Glenn Compton is the Chairman of ManaSota 88, a non-profit organization that has spent over 30 years fighting to protect the environment of Manatee and Sarasota counties.