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What happened at the Apopka wastewater treatment plant?

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Is a Zellwood business at the core of the problem?

Note: This is the second in a two-part series on the issues facing the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Part One dealt with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's inspection and subsequent actions that were taken by the FDEP. Part two deals with the cause. Use this link to read Part 1.

At the Wednesday night City Council meeting, Mayor Joe Kilsheimer announced that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection fined the City of Apopka for infractions it discovered during an inspection of the Wastewater Treatment Facility. He went on to explain how it happened, and what it would take to remedy the current state of the plant.

Part one of this series details the FDEP fines. Read it here.

"One significant issue contributing to the wastewater system’s problems has been a growing inventory of residual bio-solids that has built up over many months and which must be removed," he said in a prepared statement read during the Mayor's Report. "The build-up of sludge is directly related to the depletion of oxygen and to the present and problematic condition of plant, causing it to be septic and in turn, having a strong odor. This will be a major project anticipated to take between two and four months at an estimated cost exceeding $100,000."

He also stated that a Zellwood-based business could be contributing to the problems the plant is experiencing.

"During this series of events, the City explored the possibility of the system being compromised by a new and significant commercial customer, Anuvia Plant Nutrients, a multi-million-dollar fertilizer manufacturer based in Zellwood. The company’s leadership has been very cooperative since this issue was raised."

In its draft report to the City, independent engineering consultant Woodard & Curran also concluded that Anuvia played a role in the wastewater facility's issues.

"The start-up of the Anuvia facility has resulted in increased BOD and or COD, TKN, and ammonia to the existing wastewater facility," the report states. "Their existing permit was established with an effluent limit of several thousand mg/L of BOD. Quite apparently, this was too high. The permit needs to be reviewed and modified to limits less than 1,000 mg/L of BOD and COD, and lower limits on TKN and ammonia. pH must be monitored continuously at their outfall to the collection system. Deviations from existing 6.0-9.0 limits should set off an internal alarm to Anuvia personnel. An auto pager system should also alert designated Apopka staff with the same alarm."

A lot has been said about Anuvia over the past several months, but who is this multi-million-dollar fertilizer manufacturer from Zellwood?

On its website, Anuvia describes itself like this:

"In today’s ever-growing world, finding sustainable ways to make the things we need is of the utmost importance. At Anuvia Plant Nutrients, we work to do just that by using organic materials to manufacture slow-release plant nutrients in a patented, innovative way that addresses the three pillars of sustainability: social, environmental and economic. Our way is unique. Our way is new. We are Anuvia."

Gary Dahms, an Executive Vice President at Anuvia, points out that it is still within the chemical and elemental parameters of its permit, but will work with the City to remedy the issue.

"Our daily testing shows that we are well below our compliance levels from the city and the state in every chemical and element specifically listed in our permit. That said, our suspicion is the level of chemical oxygen demand is the issue. COD is absolutely harmless to humans - a can of soda has 15 times the amount of chemical oxygen demand that is found in our wastewater. As such, there is no mention of chemical oxygen demand in any of our permits with the city or state. However, it does cause issues to wastewater treatment facilities as it affects the microbes in the facility. Whatever the testing shows, Anuvia is committed to finding a solution at our facility and to make needed improvements to the city's facility to ensure they can handle the discharge that was permitted in the spring of 2014."

He went on to say that Anuvia officials and City officials are in constant communication, and look forward to working with the city as we they forward in permit negotiations. He also said Anuvia is working on solutions independently, and at a sizeable cost to the company.

"We are constantly working on the issues at hand. One successful example was adding lime to our water. After this happened, the city wastewater treatment plant did not have an upset for nearly a month. After reducing the lime, the plant experienced its first upset after starting with the lime. With such a correlation, we are investing several hundred thousand dollars to automate the lime in our water."

Kilsheimer also disclosed that the idea of taking Anuvia offline until a solution could be found was ruled out.

"The City considered shutting Anuvia off from our system, but determined that doing so would significantly affect their business operations. Because we believed no health issues existed, we made the responsible decision to examine the system through other procedures and avoid interrupting a customer’s business. Apopka is committed to the safety of its residents and employees. We are also committed to being a good business partner. Shutting Anuvia down completely would have hurt their business, and prevented a proper evaluation of the problem"

Use this link to read Part 1.

 

City of Apopka, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Mayor Joe Kilsheimer, Wastewater Treatment Facililty

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