I reported on October 10th about Fecal Coliform tainted drinking water in West Palm Beach that was not reported to the public for about 10 days, leaving the public to drink the tainted water unknowingly without boiling it first. Now we see contamination closing Sanibel beaches. According to an editorial October 12th in the News-Press.com:
“The bacteria that have forced the closure of some Sanibel beaches just as the tourist season gets under way are likely the product of nearby private sewage plants and septic tanks.”
The Marco Island blog has plenty of issues (and videos) of tainted water being dumped in the water within their City.
Our own "Dog Beach" (on the Rickenbacker Causeway) where children swim, has been cited 5 times since July as poor for "Fecal Coliform." Poor means 400 or greater of fecal coliform organisms per 100 ml of marine water. Although they had 5 poor ratings, the health department never issued a warning to beach-goers.
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I thought you might be interested in a report Environment Florida released today entitled “Troubled Waters: An analysis of 2005 Clean Water Act compliance . Using the Freedom of Information Act, Environment Florida obtained data on major facilities’ compliance with the Clean Water Act between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005 (the most recent data available.) Some of the key findings include:
128 facilities in Florida reported more than 910 exceedances of their Clean Water Act permits in 2005.
Hillsborough County ranked 11th in the nation for the number of major facilities exceeding their Clean Water Act permits. Polk County was 16th in the nation and Duval County 22nd
On average, Florida facilities exceeding their Clean Water Act permits did so by 216 percent.
Polluters in Florida reported 51 instances in which they exceeded their Clean Water Act permit by at least 500 percent over the legal limit.
The report appendix includes information on each major facility in Florida that exceeded their Clean Water Act permit, what type of exceedance, what pollutant and into which Florida water ways.
Very interesting, good reason I do not swim...
Long before we drink it?
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