1/15/1991 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MOTION was made by Commissioner Scurlock, SECONDED by Commissioner Eggert, for the Board to approve the Staff recommendation for the Department of Utility Services -to proceed with the selection process for an engineering firm for the design of deep well injection systems for Indian River County. Under discussion Commissioner Bowman said she would prefer to spend money on something that would be more productive; she would rather see us go out and buy a piece of real estate and create a marsh, as they did in Orlando. She feels deep well injection probably will be outlawed by the State in the future. Commissioner Scurlock confirmed that the Utilities Division has the same concern. He noted that the reuse master plan that was done by Post, Buckley clearly indicates that the alternative of deep well injection is not something we look forward to as a resource conserve. It's only recommended based on cost effectiveness and as a backup. In addition the well will be used for leachate from the landfill which is something we do not want to recycle. To compare the cost of that with land acquisition cost, for a parcel the size of the 150 -acre sod farm we bought, for instance, it would be 1-1/2 million dollars for the same area and that capacity is far less than the storage we would have with the deep well. He stressed that deep well injection disposal is only intended for (1) leachate and (2) backup during wet weather. Particular attention was paid by Post, Buckley in their master plan to see if DER would permit disposal in a 1,000 -acre parcel and, particularly, impoundment areas west of town but to this point they have said "No" because the receiving body of water, the upper St. John's marsh, is Class One Water. It provides potable drinking water for Melbourne, and DER will not permit discharge into what we think is an acceptable area. As the Commissioner who oversees Utilities, Commissioner Scurlock emphasized there is no desire to put reusable water down a deep well never to recover it. It is only the cost impact and the leachate issue combined with the backup that makes him want to support the issue and that's why he made the motion. Commissioner Bowman felt we could have a very productive marsh, and Commissioner Scurlock was totally in agreement but stressed that the St. John's and other agencies absolutely will not budge on that issue because of ultimate discharge in Class -One Water. 19 JAN x.65 1991 A BOOK. 31