Marco City Council nixes additional H2S tests

Once they saw the price tag on additional testing from monitoring firm ENVIRON, Marco Island's City Council made the decision Friday to change direction on how to address concerns of hydrogen sulfide exposure that have plagued the sewer construction program in recent months.

Photo by LESLIE WILLIAMS HALE, Eagle staff
Buy this photo »

Godfrey Davies, one resident who has remained a vigilant watchdog of Marco Island's dewatering activities, displays a photo to the Marco Island City Council on Friday. In it, a young woman pushes a stroller past a pipe Davies said was being used for dewatering. City staff and council members assured him that the line had not been put to use for dewatering, and he thanked the city for stopping activities that he says might jeopardize the child in the photo.

Rather than seek an additional $175,000 in tests, which would quadruple the original $58,000 cost, City Council gave unanimous approval to city staff to suspend monitoring and find a new way to use existing technology in treating groundwater pumped out during construction activities.

They also voted 7-0 to direct City Attorney Alan Gabriel to examine sewer construction contracts to determine whether the city could hold contractors liable for the costs spent so far on monitoring, and any future costs incurred in treating and disposing of the groundwater.

The meeting, the second special-called council session in a week, was called after City Council members reviewed a budget item for Monday's regularly scheduled meeting requesting another $175,000 for new tests. That monitoring would have established a model for the city to predict how much hydrogen sulfide would be released into the air based on the sulfide concentration in removed groundwater.

"In our minds this model could have potential," said City Manager Bill Moss. "But we on staff are becoming increasingly skeptical that this would be a good ultimate solution."

He said that city staff-conducted tests found great variations in hydrogen sulfide levels in one location over a given period of time, and he gave voice to staff concerns that residents would simply not trust the city to stick to the model.

Public Works Director Rony Joel asked for approval to find a way to treat the hydrogen sulfide-laden groundwater so it is neutralized, then dispose of it either into nearby swales to filter into canals.

The method would utilize existing technology used in the city's water treatment facilities, Joel said, though some council members took issue with the idea of returning the water to swales.

The current debate erupted over the untreated water being pumped into swales, which allowed hydrogen sulfide to leech out of the groundwater and into the air.

"Staff has no doubt we can treat the water and remove all of the hydrogen sulfide," he said. "We do it now."

He said that if council directed his staff to find another way of disposal, he would examine the feasibility of directing the water to the island's wastewater treatment plant.

"The issue of concern is how much water can we send, what's the salinity and how long will it take to construct that way?" Joel said.

The city is currently removing water in this manner, though it is without any prior treatment. The sewers under construction in the North Barfield district are going forward while the city pumps removed water through a force main and into the wastewater treatment facility.

Joel said that alternative is working, though he said that it may not have the capacity to handle water coming in from two sewer construction areas at one time, as might become necessary if the council disapproves returning treated water to the swales.

The new option of groundwater treatment will not be without new costs either, as the city will have to commission some sort of mobile water treatment unit that can be moved from one area to another. Joel said on Friday that he did not know how high those new costs might escalate.

It could also create delays in the completion of some districts as the city grapples with the challenge.

Resident Godfrey Davies, the outspoken resident who took up his own monitoring program, asked the City Council how far the project would have to go beyond expected costs and time frames before the city decided enough was enough.

"We're pushing this project further and further and further back all of the time," Davies said. "I want to see what this is costing us above what we are expecting, and where do we draw the line to shut this thing down."

Davies, an opponent of the city's Septic Tank Replacement Program, told the council he was never against sewers until he learned about the cost to each property owner.

The burden on each household runs a roughly $20,000 tab for the program, with costs increasing each year with inflation.

Resident Russ Colombo, chair of the political action committee Preserve Our Paradise, agreed that the city is reaching the end of the line with the sewering project.

He said that he was somewhat happy with the outcome of the meeting — pleased that the council was proceeding cautiously, but disappointed that the city is looking for potentially costly ways to move forward with the sewers.

The council passed both motions unanimously, showing a solidarity in voting that is rare with all things sewer.

"Anything that goes 7-0, I'm happy about," Council member Terri DiSciullo said. "I always like to see a 7-0 vote."

Councilor Chuck Kiester said he is relieved that the city has reached a consensus that will carefully guard the health of residents.

"As long we are going to stop dewatering and monitor, take baby steps, make sure that the dewatering that goes on is regulated, I'm happy," Kiester said.

Council also agreed to step up public awareness efforts by creating a pamphlet or flyer notifying residents in under-construction districts of the activities going on just beyond their doorsteps.

"I think there should be some kind of informational booklet," DiSciullo said. "Not everyone comes to the meetings."

Council hesitated to give approval to one staff request: that the city agree to pay for ENVIRON lead scientist Tim Varney to fly to Washington, D.C., to meet with Centers for Disease Control officials to discuss limits set for hydrogen sulfide exposure.

Moss said Varney believed the 20 parts per billion limit set by a CDC representative in Tallahassee was arbitrary, and deserved further scrutiny. Kiester and DiSciullo both questioned why that couldn't be done via teleconference, and the council directed Moss to get an estimate of the cost, to be presented at Monday's council meeting, before they would make a decision.