Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Bayou Marcus Plant Touted As Exemplary
7/20/2003 PensacolaNewsJournal.com
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Livingston's previous research evoked criticism Most of the Bayou Marcus Water
Reclamation Facility in southwest Escambia County has the look and feel of a
nature preserve. Yet every day, roughly 4 million gallons of treated wastewater
are pumped into a pristine marsh surrounding the plant that`s home to sweet bay
trees, green rain frogs and endangered osprey.
The treated wastewater is carried through a thick pipe attached to a wooden
boardwalk that meanders for nearly two miles through the dense swamp. About
every 20 feet, wastewater flows through small spigots into the swamp.
Gravity moves the wastewater gently downhill toward Bayou Marcus Creek or
Perdido Bay. The wastewater is naturally filtered before it enters the waterways
or seeps underground into the Sand-and-Gravel Aquifer.
When the Escambia County Utilities Authority bought the roughly 1,000 acres of
swampland surrounding the plant in 1991, it had been severely damaged by a
logging company that clear-cut the property. Pumping millions of gallons of
treated wastewater back on the land has helped restore the natural marshes.
"This is the perfect re-use for our effluent," said longtime plant manager Steve
Woods. "This is what every wastewater treatment plant should be doing. Put the
water back into nature."
The $21 million Bayou Marcus Water Reclamation Facility, which opened in 1998,
is the crown jewel of the Utilities Authority`s three sewer plants. It has
received numerous awards for meeting or exceeding state water-quality standards.
But Florida State University aquatic ecologist Robert J. "Skip" Livingston
claims his water-monitoring network has uncovered problems. The plant, he
claims, has allowed raw sewage to overflow into Perdido Bay.
The Utilities Authority firmly denies those allegations.
The plant is one of only a handful across the state that discharge to a
wetlands. This innovative method is encouraged by environmental regulators who
want to reduce the amount of pollution entering Florida`s waterways.
This year, the national Association of Metropolitan Sewage Agencies honored the
Bayou Marcus plant with its top award for having no wastewater permit violations
in 2002.
Until proven otherwise, the facility is an example of how sewage treatment
plants should work, said Mary Jean Yon, director of the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection`s Northwest District.
"We consider that plant to be top of the line in terms of a well- designed,
well-run and well- maintained facility," she said.