The other human poop problem plaguing the Treasure Coast and St. Lucie River, basins and estuary: biosolids.

Leaking septic tanks are just a part of a much bigger problem. Blue-green algae floats but contamination from stormwater runoff is harder to detect.

Myth vs. FACT: Blue-Green Algae.

Click on this link for “Fact Sheets” from South Florida Water Management District and scroll down for press release dated June 29th, 2016:

Click on this link for more information about the folly of constructing a massive new reservoir in Palm Beach County and “Send The Water South!”

Please note the words “local stormwater runoff ” in image above. This is crucially important as you continue reading this blog post.

Below are two sentences from a memorandum at a meeting of the Treasure Coast Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC) earlier this year. The entire memorandum is at the end of this blog post.



“Today, the Treasure Coast Region’s estimated 1.6 million people on public sewer generate about 87,000 dry tons of biosolids each year. In 30 or 40 years from now that total could increase by 50 percent.”*



Leaking septic tanks along the St. Lucie River are a major factor fueling this year’s toxic slimy nasty plague of blue-green algae. This has been known for many, many years. The water releases from Lake Okeechobee is water flowing into what is already an environmental mess to begin with. And just this month we learned from the TCRPC of another big human waste problem north of us in the Treasure Coast: another plague called human wastewater biosolids.

The ‘red tide’ is the ‘shiny object’ right now for the press and news media but before long another problem with human waste will take the stage.

Please continue reading about chronic harmful algal blooms (HABs), human waste, public policy, and a very profound resolution.

Biosolids. Stormwater runoff and the plague north of us in the Treasure Coast.

Briefly, how we got here.

Lake Worth Commissioner Omari Hardy is an alternate board member at the TCRPC; upon election in 2017 Hardy was chosen to represent the City at the Council. Last June Hardy presented his liaison report from that meeting as a sitting member of the Council to the Lake Worth City Commission as is customary. As reported to the Commission, “human wastewater biosolids” was a very important public policy and environmental issue at the time and another meeting was scheduled this month to educate the public and policymakers.

Following the liaison report from Hardy is when biosolids became a big topic of discussion among our local environmentalists and all those concerned with helping to save the Everglades and places like the nearby Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge.

It’s said that what happens in previous months at the TCRPC is this big news in the near future. That is certainly the case in this situation.

It would be a mistake to think the issue of human waste biosolids is just an issue for the Treasure Coast. This is a very important public policy and public health issue for all of Palm Beach County and for all of South Florida as well. 

Keeping in mind the current state of affairs vis-à-vis Lake Okeechobee, “Send The Water South!”, clean water for 8.1M people in South Florida and protecting wildlife in environmentally-sensitive places such as the Grassy Waters Preserve and the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge in Palm Beach County, well, one could say, the proverbial poop will hit the proverbial fan. Another excerpt from Item 6 on the Council agenda:


“Of additional concern are compounds found in human wastewater biosolids which may include: hormones; steroids; bacteria; viruses; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); pharmaceuticals; antibodies; polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE fire retardants); polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) like Teflon, polishes, waxes, paints, and household cleaning products; organics; metals; and artificial sweeteners. Although these materials are applied in a manner that may not be harmful to humans according to EPA guidelines, their accumulated secondary impacts are not entirely known.” [emphasis added]


This month’s TCRPC meeting is a special one: a Joint Meeting with the South Florida Regional Planning Council in Broward County. Typically the preliminary agenda is posted 3–4 days prior. For the list of prior and upcoming Council meetings click on this link.


Without further ado, in its entirety, Item #6 on the TCRPC agenda:

MEMORANDUM

To: Council Members.
From: Staff.
Subject: Management Alternatives for Human Wastewater Biosolids — Resolution.

Introduction

One of the by-products or residuals of the wastewater treatment process is called biosolids or the wet sludge that is left behind after initial processing, which is then collected for further treatment and processing. In Florida, biosolids are either land-applied as a soil amendment to improve agricultural productivity or disposed of in landfills. Either way it is an important source of water, energy, nitrogen, and phosphorous resources that some suggest could be recovered and used more efficiently. There is also concern statewide that excess nutrients from land application of human waste biosolids reach surface waters as a result of rainfall runoff and continue to increase the occurrence of chronic harmful algal blooms (HABs). [emphasis added] The purpose of this item and the attached resolution is to inform Council’s member counties, municipalities, and their associations about this regional issue and potential solutions.

Background

Today, Florida’s central sewer wastewater treatment facilities produce approximately 340,000 dry tons of biosolids. Approximately 100,000 dry tons of biosolids qualify as Class B biosolids, which are treated sewage sludge meeting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for land application as fertilizer with restrictions, and are allowed to have detectable levels of pathogens. Another 100,000 dry tons of biosolids are deposited in various landfills throughout the state. The final 140,000 dry tons of biosolids are further processed, dried, and composted with material from the landscape industry to produce approximately 200,000 tons of Class AA biosolids, which can then be distributed and marketed as fertilizer. This class of biosolids is unregulated and land-applied mainly on pasture and, to a lesser extent, citrus.

Bahia grass pastures in Florida can generally produce satisfactorily without total Phosphorous (TP) fertilization, and every crop in Florida can be grown economically without the use of biosolids as fertilizer. Biosolids provide an inefficient form of fertilization that provides only a fraction (less than 40%) of plant available nitrogen that can result in both total Nitrogen (TN) and TP over fertilization, which may negatively affect surface and other coastal waters. Of additional concern are compounds found in human wastewater biosolids which may include: hormones; steroids; bacteria; viruses; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); pharmaceuticals; antibodies; polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE fire retardants); polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) like Teflon, polishes, waxes, paints, and household cleaning products; organics; metals; and artificial sweeteners. Although these materials are applied in a manner that may not be harmful to humans according to EPA guidelines, their accumulated secondary impacts are not entirely known.

Both Class B biosolids and Class AA biosolid fertilizers contain approximately 5.5 % TN and 2.2% TP. Therefore, land application of 300,000 dry tons of Class AA and Class B biosolids deposits over 33 million pounds of TN and 13.2 million pounds of TP on agricultural lands each year. Peer reviewed studies, such as those related to the Lake Okeechobee drainage basins, estimate that ± 12% of both TN and TP imports will find their way to surface waters. This basin currently receives over 1,000 dry tons of TP from Class AA biosolids, which could amount to 120 dry tons or 240,000 pounds of TP to surface waters. Large areas within Florida such as the basins draining into Lake Okeechobee already exhibit enough legacy phosphorus to last for the next 25 to 60 years. While the practice of land-applying Class B biosolids was recently banned in the Lake Okeechobee, Caloosahatchee, St. Lucie River and Everglades watersheds, the St. Johns River Upper Basin received nearly 74,000 tons of Class B biosolids in 2016, or approximately 74% of the Class B biosolids produced in Florida, in its watershed.

Analysis

Agricultural crops can be grown profitably without land applying this inefficient nutrient source. There are alternative technologies that should be considered such as: pyrolysis; vapor recompression distillation; boiler technology electric generation; and supercritical water oxidation to improve recovery of resources and sustainable management of biosolids (see Attachment A).†

Recently, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced the formation of a statewide Biosolids Technical Advisory Committee to: 1) establish a better scientific understanding of potential nutrient impacts of the land application of biosolids; and 2) evaluate current biosolids management practices and potential opportunities for enhancements to better protect Florida’s water resources (see Attachment B).‡

Conclusion

Florida’s population continues to grow at historic rates. Today, the Treasure Coast Region’s estimated 1.6 million people on public sewer generate about 87,000 dry tons of biosolids each year. In 30 or 40 years from now that total could increase by 50 percent. With this in mind, the region [Treasure Coast] is encouraged to begin a serious conversation among local elected officials, utility directors, the agriculture industry, and others about what the future of biosolids management should look like in 30 years. Is it the same as we are doing now, or is it something completely different, using new technology to create more strategic, sustainable, and valuable reuse products? All of this starts with increasing awareness about the current status of: 1) how we manage biosolids in Florida; 2) our progress in meeting water quality goals established through approved Basin Management Action Plans and other measures; and 3) new technology aimed at improving biosolids resource recovery and water quality.

Recommendation

Council should approve Resolution No. 18-03 and authorize its distribution to local government associations and involved state agencies.


*Keep in mind the topic of biosolids plaguing the Treasure Coast is in addition to the serious environmental devastation caused by leaking and failing septic tanks.
     Per a guest column in Martin County Currents by a member of the SFWMD Governing Board, “Local Communities Must Step Up to Address Septic Pollution to St. Lucie River, Indian River Lagoon”.
†To view the attachment click on this link and scroll down to Item B6 on the agenda to download the entire nine-page file.
‡Ibid.