Let’s talk about a ”cusp of a fix”: How many septic tanks have been removed to help save the St. Lucie River and lagoon?

How many communities have hooked up to sewer along the St. Lucie River since last year?

In 21st Century Florida there are still septic tanks along a ‘treasured’ river and lagoon and “the cusp of a fix” cited in the TC Palm last year didn’t even mention septic tanks one single time. Leaking septic tanks fouling the St. Lucie River and estuary: isn’t that the true “national embarrassment”?

cusp. noun. a point that marks the beginning of a change. used in a sentence: “on the cusp of a new era”


“It [Indian River Lagoon] has also been fouled by wastewater treatment plants that discharge into the lagoon, sewage spills from the plants during heavy rains, and leaky septic tanks.”

—Quote from Associated Press article by reporters Jason Dearen and Mike Schneider, datelined May 4th, 2017.


Also on May 4th, 2017, TCPalm’s Eve Samples penned an editorial titled, “Long wait for Everglades reservoir a ‘national embarrassment’ ”, here are two excerpts:


For the better part of the past century, the most powerful politicians in Florida have been unable, and mostly unwilling, to undo the damage wrought by the biggest plumbing folly in state history — the disconnection of Lake Okeechobee from the Everglades.
     The men and women representing us in Tallahassee never failed to find excuses for this.
     Land south of Lake Okeechobee was too expensive, they said. Farmers didn’t want to sell. The state budget was too tight. First we must finish water projects already in the pipeline, they argued.
     So it’s remarkable that, over the past week, Florida lawmakers have brought us to the cusp of a fix.


and. . .


     Don’t read that to mean progress has arrived in a timely fashion. It’s been slower than the flow of water through sawgrass.


Not once in this TCPalm editorial are septic tanks mentioned.


Below is a quote from JP Sasser, the former mayor of Pahokee in Palm Beach County, south of Lake Okeechobee:


     The Treasure Coast needs to look in the mirror. Some waters in Florida are polluted with human fecal matter — particularly the IRL [Indian River Lagoon].
     “Buy the land and send water south” is not the only road to water salvation.
     My question is: When are we going to get serious about our water?



“My question is: When are we going to get serious about our water?”