DEP tells ranch near Blue Cypress Lake to stop spreading biosolids during rainy season

The state has told a ranch near Blue Cypress Lake to stop spreading human waste on pastures through the current rainy season, or risk violating its "biosolids" permit.

The 180-day moratorium on H & H Liquid Sludge Disposal dumping biosolids at Pressley Ranch will allow the Department of Environmental Protection to assess "all potential nutrient sources" and their possible connection to increased lake pollution.

DEP's July 12 letter comes six weeks after a TCPalm investigation questioned whether the ranch's biosolids were to blame for rising phosphorus levels, which can — and two weeks later did — cause a toxic blue-green algae bloom in the lake.

More: Read TCPalm's investigation

More: Highly toxic algae bloom reported in Blue Cypress Lake

The disposal of Class B biosolids, which are only partially treated human waste, increased in the lake's watershed after the Legislature in 2012 banned them in the Lake Okeechobee, St. Lucie River and Caloosahatchee River watersheds.

More:Sen. Joe Negron, Rep. Erin Grall: Ban them everywhere they're polluting 

Cooperation

H & H, based in Branford, holds the DEP permit and oversees biosolids at the ranch.

DEP noted issues during the ranch's last inspection; the letter doesn't specify the date.

"It was noted that soil was saturated and there was evidence of pooling. As such, any application of biosolids at this time would be a violation of your permit," Jennifer Smith, DEP's Southeast Florida director, wrote to H & H President Rick D. Hatch.

The company agreed to suspend applications, according to the letter.

Rainfall runoff

A heavy rain could wash pollutants into Blue Cypress Lake, said Edie Widder, founder and lead scientist at the Ocean Research & Conservation Association in Fort Pierce.

"The fact that sewage sludge was pooling on the ground is disgusting. It means the land can't soak up any more of the stuff," said Widder, who's been studying the lake. "Using biosolids in and of itself is not a bad notion, but overloading the land to the point it washes into the lake and creates a toxic algae bloom makes no sense."

Biosolids are a win-win for landowners and municipalities. Farms get free fertilizer and make money allowing biosolids to be dumped on their land. Municipalities get a cheaper way to dispose of the wet, heavy waste that's costly to ship. 

More:Investigation: Human waste fertilizes farms, but fuels toxic algae blooms

The major sources of pollution in Florida's water bodies, Widder said, are agriculture's fertilizer runoff and human waste.

With the biosolids being spread near Blue Cypress Lake, Widder said, "we have both."

Toxic algae bloom

ORCA reported a highly toxic algae bloom in the lake in mid-June. A water sample showed the toxin microcystin at a level of 4,700 parts per billion.

The World Health Organization considers microcystin levels higher than 2,000 parts per billion to be "very highly hazardous" in recreational contact.

That made Indian River County commissioners want to ban biosolids. They've set a public hearing on a proposed moratorium for 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Commissioners Tuesday also said they wanted Gov. Rick Scott to extend a state of emergency he declared for a Lake Okeechobee algae bloom to Blue Cypress Lake.

"Could we ask him to move up one county north to include Blue Cypress Lake?" Pelican Island Audubon Society President Richard Baker of Sebastian asked commissioners.

More: Could algae state of emergency be extended to Indian River County?

Blue Cypress Lake is home to more than 300 osprey nests, giving it one of the highest concentrations of ospreys nests in the world.

Audubon's Baker told TCPalm, however, the ospreys get their fish from other nearby lakes and marshes, never Blue Cypress Lake.

Since 2013

Pressley Ranch has been spreading biosolids on about 3,000 acres since 2013.

A TCPalm investigation in June showed over 5,277 dry tons of biosolids were put on Pressley Ranch pastures in 2017, according to DEP records.

That's about 1.7 tons per acre — the weight of 10 Boeing 747 jumbo jets.

About 90 percent came from the Broward County North Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, DEP reports say. The rest came from 11 wastewater treatment plants, mostly in Miami-Dade County and the cities of Sunrise, Margate and Bradenton.

The biosolids are about 85 percent water, Alan Garcia, director of Broward County's Water and Wastewater Services told TCPalm. So the actual weight of the Broward County biosolids spread on Pressley Ranch last year was 29,861 tons, about 9.7 tons an acre.

A DEP report shows the biosolids the ranch dumped in 2017 contained over nearly 293,359 pounds of phosphorus.

Data from the DEP and the St. Johns River Water Management District show the lake's phosphorus levels are increasing, but the agencies in May told TCPalm there's no proof of a direct link to biosolids application.

A Feb. 16 DEP inspection found the ranch in compliance with state regulations, including no biosolids runoff, and the state permit was extended 10 years. But at that time, no biosolids had been applied in eight months.

Trucks were seen spreading biosolids on the ranch's fields in late April and early May.