Title
In-kind Project Associated with Water and Wastewater Systems Consent Order No. 03-1591 (B)
Explanation
On December 8, 2003, the City Commission authorized the General Manager or his designee to execute a Consent Order with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) in resolution of matters associated with releases of wastewater, including the 34th Street force main break occurring on or about July 30, 2003. Contained within this consent order is an optional provision that would allow penalty moneys to be applied towards a beneficial in-kind project. GRU has sought to identify such a project that would allow these funds to be utilized locally to provide environmental benefit to Gainesville’s urban creeks systems.
For several years, GRU has worked with the FDEP, the City of Gainesville Public Works Department (COGPWD), Alachua County Health Department (ACHD), and the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department (ACEPD) to seek out and eliminate sources of high fecal coliform counts in Gainesville’s urban creeks. Even with extensive sampling and integrity testing of the wastewater systems near these creeks, the identification of persistent sources of fecal coliforms has been elusive. In efforts to seek out new methodologies to assist in the search, GRU has identified relatively new and innovative biological source tracking techniques (BST) that can distinguish between the DNA of human and non-human fecal coliforms. Combined with GIS based land use assessments within the creek watersheds, this data could provide the sharpened focus needed to identify and eliminate sources of fecal coliforms. This data can also be utilized by the FDEP in establishing appropriate fecal coliform Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) reductions for Gainesville’s urban creeks.
GRU has been working with CH2M Hill, one of the firms under contract with GRU, to outline a proposed plan of study due to the firm’s extensive staff knowledge of the application...
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