Report for 03/08/2011
TRI-County Association H.E.L.P.
With a stated mission to uphold property rights of septic owners in
Orange, Lake, and Seminole Counties, the TRI-County Association is
now incorporated and focused on impacting legislation governing the
use of septic systems in the Central Florida area.
“Health, Environment, and Legislative Policy” is not just an
acronym,” said Bill Smalley, the association’s Executive Vice
President and Membership Chair. “It’s what we do – help represent
the citizens’ vested interests, and we have hit the ground running
to achieve our goals for this legislative session.”
A formal position statement outlining the groups’ priorities
for pending septic inspection legislation has been released to
legislators by the Association. (read
more).
The incorporation of the Association is a formalization of a
multi-year, informal grassroots effort to stay on top of legislation
and rule-making about Wekiva Study Area septic systems.
With SB550 spreading the impact state-wide, the group is
expanding the reach of the group to encompass all impacted residents
in the three counties. The
Sludge Report will report on the Association’s activities, but
remain an independent website. Readers of this Report who live in
the TRI-County area are encouraged to support this organization –
there is strength in numbers!
You can receive TRI-County Association membership information
by e-mailing
info@thesludgereport.org.
Your contact information will then be passed to the TRI-County
Association.
PHASE II FDOH Nitrogen Reduction Strategies Needs Volunteers in the
Wekiva Study Area!
Hazen & Sawyer, a Tampa-based environmental firm has been awarded
the contract to conduct
Phase II of the study approved and funded by
the legislature last session.
This phase calls for field testing of various types of
nitrogen-removal alternative septic systems.
The study also will conduct on-site testing to determine
nitrogen concentration and movement through soil and into
groundwater. You can
volunteer your home for a free septic system installation!
There are financial protections for the homeowner who
volunteers to have them install a new system on the property.
If you are interested in participating, you should contact
Hazen & Sawyer directly for complete information and review the
homeowner agreement. You can also volunteer to be part of the
on-site well stations monitoring tests.
For more information: Contact Ms. Josefin Edeback or Mr. Damann Anderson
at 813.630.4498.
FLORIDA TRIBUNE REPORTS ON WATER POLICY COMMITTEE HEARINGS
http://fltrib.com/house-panel-bashes-environmental-group-over-federal-water-standards
Water Policy Committee Chair, Rep. Trudi Williams confronts the
Sierra Club over their involvement in the lawsuit filed with the EPA
which resulted in the federal agency imposing nutrient standards on
Florida. At issue is the
state being in charge of its own policy and improvement.
Issues of agriculture industries being non-competitive as a
result of standards were also raised.
CHARLOTTE COUNTY AXES AEROBIC SEPTIC SYSTEM MANDATES:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100904/ARTICLE/100909884?p=1&tc=pg
This is a must read.
Once again, what we’ve been saying all along, is true. The high cost
and functionality of electrically operated systems is causing
well-intentioned mandates to be reversed.
EDITORIAL:
The EPA’s imposition of
Nutrient Standards is on hold. As stated in a previous issue,
Senator Bill Nelson, former Senator LeMieux, and current Senator
Marco Rubio have publicly opposed the EPA’s rules. Several
counter-suits have been filed by the State of FL, the Florida
Stormwater Association, several large Florida based industries –
most of them members of the Associated Industries of FL.
One thing for certain, the
septic system issue is such an insignificant component of the EPA’s
intentions. There was a
theme that played out in last year’s legislature, that passing
septic system inspection legislation would somehow stop EPA’s
intervention in our state.
That was an exercise in wishful thinking.
Septic systems are but a blip on EPA’s radar, and rightly so.
Every pie chart we’ve looked at says the same thing.
We are the least of the problem, and have been saying so all
along. We are simply the low-hanging fruit on a very big tree.
One fact is true.
Support for funding the
final
Phase III of the Nutrient Reduction Study is the best and most
productive effort we can make. Our environment will not be any
worse than it is today by delaying inspections and interventions
until this study is done. Moreover, completing the study will
insure whatever we do has a basis in science and will guide actions
that will actually be effective. Otherwise we will be throwing
millions and millions of homeowner dollars at a fuzzy target.
Another fact is true.
Property values have been in a free-fall. The
uncertainty created by all the fuss over septic systems has further
de-valued our properties, unjustifiably.
It’s the equivalent of
killing a gnat with a 100 lb. sledgehammer. While there may
be a few systems that need attention, this push to do SOMETHING
about ALL septic systems is essentially a negative public relations
campaign that does nothing to further getting the job done of
helping our citizens correct whatever problems their systems might
have. Recognizing the potential for devastating, and unjustifiable
financial harm to Florida’s residents, at least 27 counties have
filed formal resolutions with the state protesting state-wide
mandates for inspections.
(Read GLADES
COUNTY’s recent resolution),
much of that protest directed toward the DOH rule-making.
Perhaps that speaks to the real issue.
So far, hysteria has prevailed and heavy hand of government
regulation has set the tone.
That attitude doesn’t work with kids or dogs, and it doesn’t
work with citizens. What
would happen if our environmentalists, bureaucrats, and legislators
AND CITIZENS (who have
been left out of the discussion entirely!) actually worked on a plan
- a real plan to reverse septic system impacts, beginning with the
most critical issues first?
What would happen if people didn’t feel their homes were
being threatened and were invited to participate in problem solving
instead of facing the rolled up newspaper of fines, and
unjustifiable rules. A
whole lot of fixing could have already been done, if a helping
attitude had been the starting point. So far, a whole lot of money
has been spent on creating a sludge-like perception of septic
systems and their owners, and little on productive use of resources.