The Keys Marine Sanctuary Threatened by Sewage
Posted By Donald Sutherland on 1 April 1999
Hurricane Georges had just passed Florida's Key Largo in November 1998 when Chris Rich, a geologist with the United States Geological Service (USGS) Center for Coastal Geology and Regional Marine Studies, dove down to observe the coral reef.
"It was beautiful, all the algae had been blown off the coral, and their surfaces were free to breathe," says Rich.
Chris Rich, is part of a USGS geological team studying nutrients in the Florida Keys and Bay since 1992, and what they have found is algae is killing off the coral and sea grass in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, threatening the habitat of protected endangered species. (http://marine.usgs.gov/fact-sheets/florida/title.html and http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/projects98/7242-37657.html)
According to USGS groundwater monitoring tests, sewage waste from municipal Class V underground injection control (UIC) wells, on site disposal systems (OSDS), and illegal cesspits servicing approximately 2.5 million annual tourists and 85,000 residents is carried by groundwater offshore, and the waste's high nutrient levels of nitrates and phosphates are stimulating algal growth that suffocate coral and seagrass.
"Algae only grows in nutrient rich waters, and using dyes to track Class V UIC (package treatment plant) well flow we found the dye in offshore waters in less than an hour," says Rich.
The scale of sewage pollution destroying the fragile habitat of the Sanctuary and threatening the tourist economy is huge.
USGS Coastal Research Center surveys report there are approximately 1,000 Class V UIC wells, 30,000 septic systems, and 10,000 illegal cesspits discharging sewage into groundwater that flows into coastal waters. In Key West, 18 million gallons of secondary treated sewage is discharged daily one half mile offshore via an outfall pipe.
Studies conducted by University of South Florida, University of Florida, and the USGS using viral tracers found a direct connection between injected sewage waste and viruses, fecal bacteria, and protozoa found in offshore waters posing a threat to human health -particularly to those who engage in recreational activities in polluted marine waters.
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