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City staff outlines $323M strategy and new milestones to eliminate surface-water discharges
Summary
Environmental compliance manager Justin Mahone told the advisory board the city has completed 7 of 11 consent-order corrective actions and outlined a revised, project-based timeline tied to state Senate Bill 64 with total estimated costs of roughly $323 million to eliminate surface-water discharges.
Environmental Compliance Manager Justin Mahone gave a detailed update on the wastewater consent order (OTC 20-0851) issued after a 2020 spill and described the city's approach to meeting revised regulatory milestones.
Mahone said the city has completed seven of the 11 corrective actions required by the order and that the remaining items focus on groundwater monitoring, deep injection wells and reclaimed-water upgrades. He summarized the city's proposal to align consent‑order milestones with state Senate Bill 64 (which requires zero surface-water discharge by Jan. 1, 2032) and to convert the order to a project-based schedule with targeted completion dates.
On financing and scale he cautioned members the work is large: “That 323,000,000, is the number I want you to focus on,” Mahone said. He reviewed major projects and cost estimates: a Central deep injection well (notice to proceed March 2023; hard completion 12/31/2025; $55 million), the South‑plant reclaimed transmission line to Cape Coral (completed Dec. 2023; $67 million; removes up to 12,000,000 gallons/day from river discharge), a full reclaimed conversion at Central (projected near $100 million, completion 2028) and South final upgrades (~$75 million targeted by Jan. 2032). Mahone said cost increases are driven by pandemic-era supply-chain delays, inflation, population-driven flow increases and hurricane impacts.
Mahone also explained the consent order's penalty history: the original order included a roughly $500,000 penalty that the city converted into an in‑kind project (raising required investment to about $750,000). The DEP published an amended consent order on May 1 that incorporates the city's proposed milestones; that amended order carries about a $75,000 administrative penalty and an in‑kind project option the city plans to meet via procurement of a gravity-sewer monitoring/smart-cover project.
Board members pressed for public documentation; staff said the consent order was published for public notice on May 1 and that copies may be requested from DEP. Mahone said the city will continue mandated monthly grab-sampling while using sensors and additional monitoring to identify spikes and root causes; any adoption of sensor data as formal regulatory evidence would require EPA/DEP approval.
