Anti-pump group seeks federal aid in battle

 Both sides in the gravity versus grinder battle now playing out in the Cudjoe Regional Wastewater System service area are waiting on news from the state Department of Environmental Protection concerning complaints filed by the grassroots group Dump the Pumps.

The group, fighting to have as many low-pressure grinder pumps as possible eliminated from the service area, which will ultimately serve everyone between Lower Sugarloaf Key and Big Pine Key, has filed appeals to the DEP permits issued to the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority, eventual operators of the system, claiming that the pumps don’t meet DEP specs for a public sewer system.

Those answers are expected no later than Monday, and group officials believe DEP may be their best shot in getting the Board of County Commissioners and FKAA to rethink the number of grinder pumps slated for use in the system.

But until those answers arrive and the group maps out its next move, Dump the Pump members are leaving no statement unchallenged.

One of the complaints filed by the group is that the grinder pumps can become an explosion hazard as methane gas builds up with decomposing organic materials that are normally flushed into a sewer system. That is one of the complaints DEP is reviewing now.

According to FKAA engineers, each pump unit has an air vent that allows any gasses inside the pump well to escape, including methane, which is lighter than air.

And that’s fine for gasses lighter than air, but what about those hazardous gasses that also build up in sewer systems that aren’t lighter than air, queries Dump the Pumps organizer Banks Prevatt, a Little Torch Key resident. His street is slated for a grinder pump installation.

“What a sales pitch,” said Prevatt. “Just because dangerous gasses can leak out does not mean that they will. Some combustible gasses created by sewage decomposition are heavier than air and will tend to accumulate and stay at the bottom of the grinder pit.”

Prevatt used hydrogen sulfide as an example.

That gas forms from the breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen, such as in swamp gas and sewers, Prevatt quoted from the online dictionary Wikipedia. It is heavier  than air, very poisonous, corrosive, flammable and explosive.

Prevatt also took umbrage with FKAA’s assertions that the gas produced by the individual grinder pumps will be minimal.

“Under normal use that would be true. But operation is not always normal,” he said.

Prevatt claims that in the event of an extended power failure, flammable gasses can be expected to generate in greater than normal abundance.

He is also concerned that unless part-time residents who will have grinders in their yard are careful to fully flush the systems before they leave for the summer, renewed operation may cause explosions upon their return in the fall or winter.

Prevatt also says that the advice of FKAA and the contractor to place the grinder pit as close to the home as possible isn’t what he feels comfortable with.

He wonders if residents who make that choice will want the smell of the vent-released gasses under their windows, or want a grinder pit with explosive potential just below the concrete  pad on which the home is built.

The group’s leadership also questions whether the installation costs for grinder pumps to the resident will be cheaper as FKAA and county officials maintain.

The resident is responsible for the power outlet to the outside of the home for operation of the pump and for drain pipes to the grinder pit.

If the pump goes in first, the cost for lateral lines to the pump may be increased because the plumber doing the work will have to abandon using automated equipment and dig by hand to avoid damaging the pump or pit apparatus.

Prevatt says he wonders why the FKAA and the county are still trying to sell the residents on grinder pumps.

“Every other collection system except gravity is cheaper initially for the county and the homeowner,” said Prevatt. “And every other collection system is better for the environment, cheaper to maintain, and at least acceptable. It should just be done right the first time and quit wasting our money and trying our patience.”

On the environmental front,

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