Biosolids: SFWMD mulls Sunbreak Farms' bid to delay compost facility permit process
Tyler TreadwaySunbreak Farms has requested a 60-day delay in its petition to operate a biosolids composting facility straddling St. Lucie and Indian River counties.
The company wants the extra time "to consider and review the status of this matter and its options with regard to the requested permit," according to a petition filed Friday with the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD).
The farm needs a permit for its plan to take in about 20,000 tons of sewage sludge, known as Class B biosolids, a year and compost it with about 60,000 tons of yard and agricultural waste to make fertilizer, known as Class AA biosolids, for about 6,580 acres of crops, primarily corn.
Biosolids pollution
Class B biosolids can contain high levels of bacteria and heavy metals that are supposed to be removed during the composting process that turns the material into Class AA biosolids, which are classified as fertilizer and unregulated.
More: Read Sunbreak Farms' request for a delay in the permit process
Class B biosolids also contain nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which aren't removed during composting and can spark toxic algae blooms.
The water management district denied the permit earlier this year, saying Sunbreak hasn't shown the facility won't leak contaminated water into the nearby C-25 Canal, which leads to the Indian River Lagoon in northern Fort Pierce.
That led the company to seek a hearing before an administrative judge.
More: Read TCPalm's award-winning "Laying Waste" investigation
Officials in St. Lucie and Indian River counties and the St. Johns River Water Management District have supported the SFWMD in denying the permit.
The counties don't oppose the delay, and the St. Johns River water district is OK with whatever the South Florida water district wants to do, according to Sunbreak's petition.
Permit denied
South Florida water district officials denied the permit because plans for the farm don't include a monitoring system to show "pollution abatement practices proposed in the design are functioning properly."
Sunbreak officials countered the design of the project is "dictated" by the permit they already have from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and they "are not at liberty to deviate" from what that permit requires.
Biosolids use is suspected of polluting Blue Cypress Lake, part of the St. Johns River headwaters in western Indian River County. The county has put a moratorium on spreading Class B biosolids on pastures, a practice that's different than Sunbreak Farms' plan to compost the sewage sludge first.
Florida's wastewater treatment plants produce about 350,000 dry tons of sewage sludge each year. Of that, about:
- 25% goes to landfills
- 30% is partially treated and spread on land as Class B biosolids
- 45% is combined with composted landscape material and chemically treated to produce 200,000 dry tons of Class AA biosolids, which is classified as "fertilizer" and can be used without regulation.
The Legislature this spring did not pass bills to regulate the use of biosolids, so the DEP is working to come up with a set of rules.
More: Sunbreak Farms would spread biosolids near C-25 Canal
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More: St. Johns River Water Management District backs permit denial