September 8, 2023

FRWA CONTINUES ASSISTANCE EFFORTS TO IDALIA VICTIMS

More than a week after Hurricane Idalia hit the Gulf Coast, the Florida Rural Water Association is still on the ground helping systems get back online.

Florida’s Nature Coast, where Hurricane Idalia ripped through stands of pine and cedar trees, small towns and waterfront villages, is one of the poorest and least populated regions in the state. That may inhibit an economic rebound in the months ahead. more

Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures as you can see in the photos below as Patrick Dangelo of our Asset Management Team and Ben Edwards with Suwannee Water and Sewer search for a valve to turn off the water at Suwannee Water and Sewer.

Gainesville Regional Utilities stops by to help with one of their vacuum trucks as numerous systems aid in the effort to get the water flowing again. Thank you to our partners in water and what they do for the smaller systems.

Florida City Becomes Key Player in "Forever Chemicals" Fight

Dave Peters took pride in supplying the residents of Stuart, Florida with award-winning drinking water. The former public works director says he clearly remembers one evening back in 2016 when the city’s living "nightmare" began.

"We got a phone call on a Monday night at 5:05 p.m. Then the question was, are you ready for this?" Peters says.

A Congressional assistant alerted the city of Stuart that the water supply contained unacceptably high levels of PFAS (per-and-poly-fluoroalkyl substances)– a class of compounds also known as "forever chemicals."

The CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, (ATSDR) says high exposure to certain kinds of PFAS may lead to decreased vaccine response in children, increased cholesterol levels, decreases in infant birth weights, high blood pressure in pregnant women, and even an increased risk of developing of kidney or testicular cancer. The agency also says lab animal experiments have been conducted to learn more about the potential effects of PFAS exposure, and high doses of PFAS in lab animals "caused low birth weight, birth defects, delayed development."

"We're a small city with families," Peters says. "We certainly didn't want to be the cause of somebody's health issues." more

PREPARING YOUR HOME FOR A HURRICANE

Last week Florida experienced the first hurricane landfall of 2023. There are systems out in the Atlantic threatening our coast once again. You have the responsibility of keeping your water running clean and clear for your customers. But, what about your customers? Are they prepared in case disaster hits?

Please see below some information that you may pass along to them to help them prepare for disasters:

Articles of Interest

NATIONAL NEWS

USDA Investing Over $800M to Strengthen Rural Infrastructure, Create Jobs U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is investing $808 million to help rural cooperatives and utilities build and improve electric infrastructure and increase electric grid reliability and security, connecting hundreds of thousands of people in rural areas. more

PFAS Settlement Steering Committee Releases Allocation Estimates for Largest Drinking Water Settlement in History The allocation procedures outlined in court filings in support of the $13.6 billion settlements with 3M and DuPont entities now have an accompanying estimated allocation range table for each settling defendant. more

Water and Wastewater Regional Threat Briefings - 9/10/23 application deadline The U.S. Environmental Protection EPA HQ and CISA have organized Water and Wastewater Sector Regional Threat Briefings for Water Sector partners and EPA. more

EPA rolls back wetland protections following SCOTUS decision on Clean Water Act - WTAP For half a century, the Clean Water Act allowed the federal government to regulate the “waters of the united states,” (WOTUS) a broad category including major rivers, lakes, and wetlands. more

2700 charges pressed against Chemours executives over decades of PFAS pollution Criminal lawyer Benedicte Ficq will file at least 2,700 charges against the executives of the chemical company Chemours on Monday. more

For OPERATORS: The Down and Dirty of How Small Towns Can Avoid Getting Hacked - 1 hour September 21, 2023 | 2:00 pm CDT Virtually no water/wastewater operators, ever, went into water because they wanted to be experts in cybersecurity. more

EPA Issues Emergency New Rule on Waters of the United States | Snell & Wilmer - JDSupra Using a rarely invoked exception to the Administrative Procedure Act’s requirement for public notice and comment prior to issuing a new rule, the EPA set forth a new rule governing jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Believing that this new rule was urgently needed in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court eviscerating the existing rule in the Sackett case, the EPA issued a new rule defining how waters and wetlands are to be considered “Waters of the United States”, and thus subject to Federal regulation under the Clean Water Act. more

EPA Cybersecurity Rule Challenged by States and Water Systems Associations - JD Supra On July 25, Missouri, Arkansas, and Iowa (the states), along with intervenors American Water Works Association and National Rural Water Association (the water associations), petitioned the Eighth Circuit to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new rule requiring states to review and report cybersecurity threats to their public water systems (PWS). more

Brita filters 'not nearly as effective' as advertised, lawsuit claims The complaint says some of the contaminants that the filters do not remove are PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals." more

EPA and Army Publish Amended WOTUS Rule Per Supreme Court Decision EPA and the U.S. Army have announced a final rule entitled, “Amendments to the Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the United States (WOTUS)” under the Clean Water Act. more

EPA Granted Extension in Cybersecurity Policy Litigation In the latest development in the ongoing litigation between EPA and three states over the evaluation of cybersecurity practices as part of sanitary surveys, on August 23rd, the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit approved EPA’s request for a 60-day extension on its next briefing deadline to allow additional time for the Agency to “evaluate options.” more

Potable reuse has potential for water resilience Population growth and climate change are stretching America’s water supplies to the limit, and tapping new sources is becoming more difficult each year—in some cases, even impossible. more

FEMA continues to seek more funds for disaster relief The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says it has enough money to handle the impacts of Hurricane Idalia but that money will not last forever. more

US states withdraw objections to 3M's $10.3 billion PFAS settlement | 1330 & 101.5 WHBL A group of 22 U.S. states and territories have dropped their bid to block a proposed $10.3 billion settlement between 3M and U.S. public water providers that have accused the company of polluting drinking water with toxic chemicals. more

More than half of wetlands no longer have EPA protections after Supreme Court ruling | WUFT NPR’s Ari Shapiro talks with Marla Stelk, executive director of the National Association of Wetland Managers, about the EPA’s new rules that comply with a ruling limiting the Clean Water Act’s scope. more

STATE NEWS

Deer Point Lake Bridge, Dam will undergo repairs | WJHG A critical utility in Bay County will soon undergo repairs above ground and underwater. more

Fort Lauderdale residents might get sticker shock when they see water bills | Sun Sentinel Like any big city, Fort Lauderdale has big bills to pay. And if you live here, you’re helping pay them. more

FDEP Water Quality Protection Grants now open DEP has extended the Water Quality Protection Grant Program application deadlines to 11:59 p.m. EST on Sept. 14, 2023, for all eligible entities throughout the state. more

Florida Department of Health: Collier County beaches safe for swimming | Naples Daily News The agency issued a precautionary advisory for the county's beaches due to Hurricane Idalia on Aug. 30, concerned about the potential for more water-borne illnesses caused by bacteria. more

Help Promote SepticSmart Week in September Plan now to help promote SepticSmart Week, taking place on September 18-22 this year. more

Hernando County officials: areas west of US-19 ‘no longer accessible’ due to flooding | WFLA Hernando County officials ordered no access to areas west of US-19 due to storm surge from Hurricane Idalia. more

Houston Water Supply Contaminated

September 6, 1893: The Houston Daily Post ran a series of investigative articles about the Water Works Company and the pollution in Buffalo Bayou–an early surface water supply for the City of Houston, Texas. In a September 6, 1893 article, Houston Cotton Exchange officials charged that the bayou was “an immense cesspool, reeking with filth and emitting a stench of vilest character.” The newspaper noted in 1895 that a dozen privies, a smallpox graveyard, a dead cow, oil mill, and cattle yards had been sighted in the waters above the Water Works’ dam. In another article later that year, reporters wrote that cattle from the Southern Oil Mill stockyards were discovered wading in the bayou alongside decomposing cow carcasses. A drain from the mill ran directly into the bayou creating additional unsanitary conditions. “It is our opinion that the use of this water is a menace to the lives of the people of this community,” avowed the investigative reporters.

Update: With the devastation of the Houston by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, it is astonishing that water service in Houston was never lost, nor was a boil water order ever issued. Houston OBVIOUSLY made a lot of improvements in their water supply over 124 years.

FLORIDA RURAL WATER ASSOCIATION | http://www.frwa.net

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