There will be a meeting of the Lake Worth City Commissioners on 9/4 at 530 pm to discuss this at Lake Worth City Hall. Public comment and the vote to hire a law firm will probably be about an hour later.
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Lake Worth might hire lobbyist for permit push
By NICOLE JANOK
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 01, 2007
LAKE WORTH — Fearing that a state agency will not issue a permit that would allow the dumping of millions of gallons of nutrient-laden water near a pristine coral reef, the city is seeking to hire a law firm to lobby for the permit.
Commissioners will be asked Tuesday to approve hiring Tallahassee-based Hopping Green and Sams to help "persuade" the state Department of Environmental Protection to issue the permit.
Hopping Green and Sams specializes in public sector environmental and land-use law, according to its Web site.
Lake Worth initiated the reverse osmosis drinking water process five years ago to provide an alternative water source and relieve its coastal well fields, which are threatened by salt-water intrusion.
Scientists, divers and marine ecologists have strongly objected to city plans to dump a byproduct of the process, reverse osmosis concentrate, through the city's 92-foot deep sewage outfall pipe. The pipe extends almost to Horseshoe Reef, one of the area's premiere diving locales about a mile offshore.
While opponents say that nutrients in the concentrate will cause algae blooms that will destroy the reef, city officials have maintained the reef will not be harmed.
Mayor Jeff Clemens is not sure whether he'll support hiring a law firm to pursue the permit, which can be costly and time-consuming, he said.
Clemens and other commissioners recently met with Utility Director Samy Faried to discuss the outfall permit and other possible alternatives to getting rid of the concentrate, including very costly deep-well injection.
At that time, Clemens learned that the Department of Environmental Protection may not approve the permit, he said.
"I think they've really put Lake Worth in a difficult position," Clemens said of the department. "There was every indication that the DEP knew that this outfall would not have any impact on the environment, and they've switched positions ... and that means we have spent several millions of dollars without gaining any benefit from it."
Clemens said if the South Florida Water Management District and DEP had a cohesive plan for addressing alternative water solutions, it might prevent small municipalities from getting entangled in such controversies.
Jack Long, the DEP Southeast District director, said a final decision on the permit is expected in the next three to four weeks.
He would not elaborate on what the decision would be or what the DEP has told Lake Worth about issuing the permit.
Ed Tichenor, director of Palm Beach County Reef Rescue, which has led the fight against the permit, said he hopes the DEP has started to rethink how it manages coral reef systems.
"Coral reefs in Florida and across the world are in trouble, and you can't take chances with them anymore like we did in the past," he said.
Some have suggested the city dump the concentrate into the Lake Worth Lagoon, which has undergone massive restoration efforts, or extend the pipe farther from the reef.
None of those options has been seriously considered and would be far more expensive.
http://shorterlink.com/?EQYHPR
Lake Worth might hire lobbyist for permit push
By NICOLE JANOK
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 01, 2007
LAKE WORTH — Fearing that a state agency will not issue a permit that would allow the dumping of millions of gallons of nutrient-laden water near a pristine coral reef, the city is seeking to hire a law firm to lobby for the permit.
Commissioners will be asked Tuesday to approve hiring Tallahassee-based Hopping Green and Sams to help "persuade" the state Department of Environmental Protection to issue the permit.
Hopping Green and Sams specializes in public sector environmental and land-use law, according to its Web site.
Lake Worth initiated the reverse osmosis drinking water process five years ago to provide an alternative water source and relieve its coastal well fields, which are threatened by salt-water intrusion.
Scientists, divers and marine ecologists have strongly objected to city plans to dump a byproduct of the process, reverse osmosis concentrate, through the city's 92-foot deep sewage outfall pipe. The pipe extends almost to Horseshoe Reef, one of the area's premiere diving locales about a mile offshore.
While opponents say that nutrients in the concentrate will cause algae blooms that will destroy the reef, city officials have maintained the reef will not be harmed.
Mayor Jeff Clemens is not sure whether he'll support hiring a law firm to pursue the permit, which can be costly and time-consuming, he said.
Clemens and other commissioners recently met with Utility Director Samy Faried to discuss the outfall permit and other possible alternatives to getting rid of the concentrate, including very costly deep-well injection.
At that time, Clemens learned that the Department of Environmental Protection may not approve the permit, he said.
"I think they've really put Lake Worth in a difficult position," Clemens said of the department. "There was every indication that the DEP knew that this outfall would not have any impact on the environment, and they've switched positions ... and that means we have spent several millions of dollars without gaining any benefit from it."
Clemens said if the South Florida Water Management District and DEP had a cohesive plan for addressing alternative water solutions, it might prevent small municipalities from getting entangled in such controversies.
Jack Long, the DEP Southeast District director, said a final decision on the permit is expected in the next three to four weeks.
He would not elaborate on what the decision would be or what the DEP has told Lake Worth about issuing the permit.
Ed Tichenor, director of Palm Beach County Reef Rescue, which has led the fight against the permit, said he hopes the DEP has started to rethink how it manages coral reef systems.
"Coral reefs in Florida and across the world are in trouble, and you can't take chances with them anymore like we did in the past," he said.
Some have suggested the city dump the concentrate into the Lake Worth Lagoon, which has undergone massive restoration efforts, or extend the pipe farther from the reef.
None of those options has been seriously considered and would be far more expensive.
