The permit for the ASR well at Port Canaveral has expired.  According to Carol Noble, Director of Environmental Plans and Projects, “At this time we are not performing any injections or any additional sampling for the ASR project.”

Stay tuned for the upcoming Council meeting date.

The next closest ASR well injecting reclaimed water is more than 1500 miles away, in El Paso, Texas.  In addition to treating their water to tertiary standards, they use carbon filtration and ozone.  That is the only ASR reclaimed well in Texas that I am aware of.

Arizona has clustered many of their wells in a secured area of 15,000 acres.  Unlike Rockledge, they kept their wells away from any population center.  Arizona treats their water to tertiary standards and removes nitrogen to prevent the problems of unpredictable bacterial growth.

California treats their water to tertiary standards, and additionally uses reverse osmosis.  Some wells are also oxygenated to remove the possibility of arsenic mobilization.

Florida is the only state in the U. S. (actually, maybe the world!) that allows the disposal of inadequately treated wastewater.  Because of our unique geology, research recently completed by FDEP points out the likelihood of arsenic mobilization in our groundwater, along with increasing levels of endocrine disruptors, other pollutants, and the increasing resistance of bacteria and viruses to disinfection and antibiotics.  There is also concern about the rapid growth of “superbugs” caused by the nitrogen that is found in reclaimed water.

To classify the Rockledge well as “experimental” is an understatement. Reclaimed water is not safe to drink.  Consumption is prohibited by state law.  FDEP is currently conducting more research on problems with ASR wells.  It is entirely possible these wells will no longer be permitted in Florida under the current FDEP guidelines.

It is not too late to put this project on hold, until FDEP has completed all their research.  We can be certain the cycle testing will release arsenic into the aquifer and contaminate local wells.  Once cycle testing is begun, we can never go back and undo the damage.  We will just be throwing good money after bad.

Kathy Reinhold, Rockledge

The Rockledge City Council narrowly approved (4-3 vote) the motion made by Mayor Larry Schultz and seconded by Georgia Phillips “to approve the scope of services and submit an application for cycle testing to Florida DEP.”   Council members Coleen Stuart and Frank Forester also voted for the motion.  We would like to graciously thank Council members Joe Lee Smith, Richard Blake and Kimberly Prosser for supporting the residents wishes of the Rockledge community and for voting against the motion.

The City still has a LONG way to go to meet the State requirements and prove they meet the applicable Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.) Rules.  The City will be required by FDEP to hold at least two more public hearings before any fluid (potable or otherwise) is discharged into the Floridan aquifer in Rockledge.  This may take years.  SOA will be outlining those hurdles and posting them on this website.  PLEASE NOTE: In the near future City employees will be going door to door armed with a list of questions to ask well owners in order to “physically verify” private wells and their use in the 1-mile radius. The FDEP permit states, “No cycle testing will be allowed in the event there remain any in-use potable wells in the well inventory.”

Save Our Aquifer will continue to educate the public, elected officials and the permitting agencies about the critical need to protect our Underground Source of Drinking Water.  Please stay tuned and let your friends and neighbors know we shall continue to defend our water rights and protect this vital Underground Source of Drinking Water from unnecessary experimental testing.

Please help us spread the word by forwarding this message.

Map to Rockledge City Hall

Talking Points for March 10 Public Hearing on ASR Well Testing,

Facts to consider:

1. ARSENIC: Arsenic, a very dangerous and highly carcinogenic contaminant, would be released into groundwater by injecting oxygen rich water. Cycle testing of ASR wells in Cocoa, Port Canaveral and around the state caused arsenic releases at levels above EPA groundwater standards.

2. CONTAMINATION OF THE AQUIFER: Normally, cycle testing uses potable water, but to save money the City is planning to use reclaimed water as will be used when in operation.  This sewage wastewater, containing birth control chemicals, prescription drugs, fecal coliform, personal care products, plasticizers, endocrine disruptors, and a long list of carcinogenic contaminants, would be injected directly into the Floridan aquifer 370 to 470 feet deep.  Once polluted, our Underground Source of Drinking Water (USDW) would be contaminated permanently.

3. HIGHLY FRACTURED, NON-CONFINING AQUIFER: According to a 2008 letter by Rockledge’s ASR engineers, Jones, Edmunds and Associates (JEA), the top of the Floridan aquifer in Rockledge is: “highly fractured with large conduit flow zones.”  Geologists consider the confining layer, the layer that separates the surficial aquifer from the Floridan, to be too thin (less than 35 feet) to prevent the upward flow of injected sewage wastewater into the surficial aquifer and the Indian River Lagoon.  At least 480 private wells are known to exist within one mile of the injection site.  82 of those wells are into the Floridan aquifer, 353 wells are surficial and 45 are of unknown depth.

4. RECOMMENDATIONS IGNORED: Despite the 2004 JEA Reuse Study that stressed conservation and metering as an integral part of short- and long-term reclaimed water solutions, the City has delayed implementing these steps until recently and only after spending millions of dollars on the ASR well.  Conserving reclaimed water through metering, enforcement and public education campaigns would save more than 50% of reclaimed water and make an ASR well unnecessary. Additionally, initial estimates of city growth and reclaimed water projections proved inaccurate and have not been updated.

5. WATER RIGHTS:  The City was required by the FDEP and Florida Rule 62-610.563(6) to own and operate all potable wells within a one mile radius of the injection site because the proposed injections would contaminate the aquifer and pose a risk to public health. The 2006 “well ban” ordinance was enacted without personal notice to the approximately 2,000 property owners in the one-mile radius.  No compensation has been offered to owners with private wells for contaminating their well water – this constitutes an inverse taking of water rights.

6. ALL PAY, FEW BENEFIT: Citizens of Rockledge were taxed for the ASR well and reclaimed water lines, however just 15% have access to  reclaimed water.

7. EXPERIMENTAL INJECTIONS: The City is proposing to inject 230 million gallons of reclaimed water over a two-year period to conduct the cycle tests.  Actual recovery rates are unknown but a percentage of the injected water would never be recovered.  The FDEP does not impose any recovery requirement; the only criteria is being “economically feasible”.

8. NOT CONSERVATION: In conjunction with the ASR well system, the City plans to annually extract 78 million  gallons from the Upper Floridan Aquifer to augment the reclaimed water system. That’s equivalent to 52 Cocoa Water Towers each year.

9. SAFE SOLUTIONS: The top priority should be to protect and conserve clean water, such as the Floridan aquifer under Rockledge.  Conserving water used in homes by encouraging water saving toilets, shower heads, and washers, also reduces wastewater amounts.  Reclaimed water can be conserved by metering the users, and adopting a rate structure, estimated to save  50% or  more of Rockledge’s reclaimed water.  Encouraging homeowners to landscape with Florida friendly plants that survive without maintenance or irrigation would further reduce demand. Reclaimed water can be safely stored in above ground storage tanks.  Don’t pollute our Underground Source of Drinking Water to water lawns.

Download these talking points in pdf format, also the poster (jpeg format).

Location map: Rockledge Wastewater Treatment Plant

For the location of the library, click on this link.

For Immediate Release:

January 5, 2010

Canaveral Port Authority (CPA) contaminated the aquifer and a stormwater pond at the Port with unsafe levels of arsenic while testing an Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) well.  On January 4, 2010, the Brevard based environmental group, Save Our Aquifer (SOA), sent a letter to the Canaveral Port Authority (CPA), the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD), and other State and Federal officials regarding the possible release of unsafe levels of arsenic into Waters of the United States at Port Canaveral.

SOA discovered the information via a public records request from the Canaveral Port Authority office.  The Canaveral Port Authority Aquifer Storage and Recovery Cycle Test Report (July 2008) shows cycle testing of their Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) well released arsenic above Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) safety standards into the surrounding aquifer and nearby stormwater ponds that outflow into Waters of the United States.

In 2008, Tetra Tech Inc., the ASR engineering firm hired by CPA, performed three consecutive cycle tests for an ASR well over a four month period.  High rates of arsenic were seriously problematic during all three cycle tests of the ASR well.  Results of the tests are outlined in the report.  At only 35 to 60 feet in depth, this is the shallowest ASR well in the state of Florida.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the EPA limit arsenic to 10µg/l for groundwater and drinking water safety.    The 10µg/l (10 parts per billion) standard is considered to be high.  Even waters that meet this standard have been associated with a risk of greater than 1 in 400 for bladder cancer or lung cancer according to the study “Arsenic in the Drinking Water: 2001 Update, National Academies’ National Research Council.”

When cycle testing began in February 2008, background arsenic concentrations were “0″ (zero) or “ND” (Not Detected), according to Tetra Tech’s report.  After cycle testing, arsenic levels at the injection sites were two to seven times FDEP and EPA permitted levels.  Arsenic readings in the nearby stormwater storage pond spiked to 19µg/l.  The elevated arsenic levels in the stormwater ponds were noted in test data submitted, but were not mentioned in the narrative explanation of test results.

It appears the SJRWMD, which holds the permit for the stormwater ponds, was not notified by the CPA or Tetra Tech that the cycle testing caused arsenic-laden water to flow into the nearby stormwater ponds which outflow directly into Port waters near Glen Cheek Drive.  There is no evidence the restaurants, businesses, or people using Port waters in this area were notified of the potential danger posed by the release of this high-level arsenic stormwater.   Also put at risk were marine species, including the endangered manatee, sea turtles, and wood storks.

“Arsenic is naturally present but bonded to the sand.  Oxygen introduced with the injected water broke the bond and released the arsenic into the aquifer and groundwater,” said Mark Jacobs (SOA).

“Arsenic is a highly poisonous element.  The Port and the other communities in Brevard who are considering utilizing ASR wells to store their sewage wastewater need to realize the many dangers this process poses for our water ways and water supplies,” said Amy Mosher (SOA).

“The stormwater ponds at the Port were designed to capture stormwater runoff, with overflow mechanisms that channel excess runoff into Port waters.  They were not designed to treat arsenic-laden waters,” said Dick Glenn (SOA).  “We don’t know how much arsenic-contaminated water overflowed into the Port waters and the nearby Banana River.”

“The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has called these types of ASR wells “experimental”.  It appears this well has not only been a costly experiment in terms of taxpayer dollars, it has been a risky experiment with unknown consequences to the health of our groundwater and waterways, including the Indian River Lagoon system,” said Kathy Reinhold (SOA).

STORY CONTACT: Save Our Aquifer
Richard Glenn:  (321) 298-6726
P.O. Box 251 Cocoa FL 32923,
email:  info@saveouraquifer.org
website: www.saveouraquifer.org

*** Read the letter that was received by the Canaveral Port Authority and State and Federal agencies: click here (pdf)

Overloaded Sewers Lead To ‘Toxic Waters’ (December 17, 2009)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121529243

How Safe Is Your Drinking Water? (October 19, 2009)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113927993

On May 6th, less than 36 hours after the May 4, ASR “Public Forum” in Viera, three Save Our Aquifer members spoke at the Rockledge City Council meeting in an attempt to get Council members’ opinions regarding the information presented at the Forum. SOA members were met with blank stares and not one comment. SOA put extensive energy and resources into the Forum that was suggested by Georgia Phillips on April 1st after she made a motion to cancel an advertised “Public Hearing” regarding the well and hold the Forum. SOA asked Mr. McKnight after the May 6 Council meeting what the City’s plan was. He said he would have to see if the Council had any questions and go from there…. However, on the morning of May 6 Mr. McKnight had already sent a group email to Council members private email accounts that read: “I am attempting to bring JEA down for individual meetings with City Council one day during the month of June. Please notify me of what dates YOU ARE NOT available during that month. We will set time slots that best accommodate individuals. Thanks. James P. McKnight, City Manager, City of Rockledge, Florida.” It was not until July that SOA found out that Council members met secretly behind closed doors. The over three hour May 4 Public Forum was an opportunity for Council to submit questions and make informed decisions but instead they plotted to meet secretly behind closed doors with JEA and rehash, and again be persuaded by their engineering firm’s mis-information.

By Karen Ahlers
Published: Sunday, May 24, 2009 at 6:30 a.m.

I was mistreated at a St. Johns River Water Management District meeting – again.

I was at the May 12 Governing Board meeting to speak for the Putnam County Environmental Council (PCEC) on behalf of concerned and even irate citizens regarding withdrawals from the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers and the legal challenge our organization has filed to the district’s plan.

I was there to remind the board of citizen objections and PCEC’s petition for review before the governor and Cabinet, and to respectfully request that they deny the adoption of yet another addition, the Fourth Addendum, to the district’s Water Supply Plan.

I wanted to encourage them to act on their own doubts and fears for the health of our rivers and to slow down – take advantage of the economic downturn, Florida’s flat population statistics- and give conservation measures a chance.

However, I was given only three minutes to plead before the board. In contrast, numerous members of the legal staff of the district were given as much time as they wanted to rebut my remarks in an attempt to discredit me and other objectors and to forward their agenda with the board. I was given no opportunity to offer an explanation or follow-up comments. No doubt, if PCEC could have afforded the expense of having its attorney present, things may have turned out differently.

Had I been given the time, I would have told the board that the Yankee Lake permit they approved last month, despite tremendous public opposition, was added to the district’s Water Supply Plan in the legally challenged Third Addendum that, because of PCEC’s challenge, has yet to be finalized.

I would have asked why district staff continues to assess water supply potential from the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers based on questionable minimum flows and levels and why they insist on playing word games in their designation of these rivers as alternative water supply sources to avoid having to base potential yields on wet-weather flows as the law requires.

While the district touted the fact that they have held over 400 public meetings regarding water supply planning, this meeting was yet another example of how they rule through intimidation of both the public and their own Governing Board and have put our state into an untenable situation with regard to our fundamental right to a sufficient supply of clean water. They claim their plans are “in the public interest,” but the only folks we’ve found that believe that are developers, utilities, paid consultants and district staff.

PCEC members and other citizens have been kicked out of meetings, intimidated by legal staff and ridiculously expensive legal consultants, limited to as little as 90 seconds to make comments, and deprived of legitimate access to Governing Board members.

Approximately 400 citizens took time off from work, drove long distances, and stood in the hot sun a month ago so they could express their frustration and ire with the district’s plans to pump water through hundreds of miles of pipeline to support unbridled growth. Disheartened by the way they were treated, most of them stayed away this time.

As if the situation at the SJRWMD isn’t bad enough, the Florida Legislature has passed a bill, SB 2080, that gives the five water management district executive directors the power to grant consumptive use permits and environmental resource permits without the benefit of Governing Board review and with almost no opportunity for public input. Charles Lee of Audubon of Florida urged the Governing Board to adopt a resolution asking Gov. Crist to veto this legislation. Mr. Lee’s plea was vehemently shot down by SJRWMD Executive Director Kirby Green at the end of the meeting. At a governing
board workshop last fall, he explained how the district gets more done when they “fly under the radar” and this bill will allow them to do just that, making decisions for us instead of with us. Mr. Green obviously likes the idea of being one of five, non-elected district water czars with the power to control Florida’s water resources.

PCEC is astounded that Governing Board members from all five water management districts are not outraged at this power grab that would effectively establish a statewide water board of just five people who operate as they wish with no oversight, an idea that was patently dismissed at the 2008 Florida Water Congress.

I urge everyone to call Gov. Crist at 850-488-7146 and ask that he veto SB 2080.

What are citizens to do when the democratic process ceases to provide them with opportunities to work within the system?

The citizens of Florida need to demand that an advocate be provided to them by the state, the same way the citizens, through their tax dollars, provide legal staff for the districts.

Karen Ahlers is president of the Putnam County Environmental Council in Palatka. E-mail her at www.pcecweb.org.