Lexington, KY - In the interest of addressing a host of environmental and sustainability challenges that face the water industry, the 2009 Water Professionals Conference for Kentucky and Tennessee recently issued calls to revisit the Clean Water Act and attract more young people to careers in the industry.
Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry greeted the opening session of the conference, which was hosted by Kentucky American Water and the LFUCG Department of Environmental Quality. He spoke briefly about Lexington's violations of the Clean Water Act and the EPA Consent Decree. Lexington has committed to making major repairs to its waste water systems, both sanitary and storm water, within 11 to 13 years. In times of heavy rainfall, raw sewage was spilling into storm water and flowing, untreated, into streams. A hike in the sanitary sewage tax and a new storm sewer fee will help pay for upgrading of sanitary facilities and improvements to the storm water system to reduce flooding. Many cities across the nation, due to aging water infrastructure and demands exceeding capacity, have their own consent decrees to work with.
Newberry said the city is moving past cyclic abuses caused by it being cheaper to pay fines than to be in compliance with regulations meant to protect the environment. The consent decree requires the updating of ordinances and adoption of new ones. Enforcement is to be rigorous. Fines can run as high as $10,000 per day of violation. The city will conduct regular inspections of drainage systems for illicit discharges and of construction sites for debris and dirt run-off. Privately owned storm water systems, such as retention ponds, detention basins and drainage pipes, will be required to be well designed and maintained. A property tax on impermeable surfaces, such as rooftops, parking lots and sidewalks, will help pay for the programs, and it will apply to commercial and residential sectors.
The Lexington Department of Environmental Quality, under the leadership of Cheryl Taylor, will oversee the city's fulfillment of the consent decree. Charlie Martin, director of Water and Air Quality for Lexington, participated in the conference, speaking in a session about the Lexington Consent Decree.
The conference, an annual event held in different cities in Kentucky and Tennessee, brought several hundred water management professionals to the downtown Hyatt. It offered numerous sessions, some highly technical, that provide forums for sharing the latest developments and thinking in the water industry, as well as continuing education required for upkeep of professional licenses. The guiding organizations of the conference were the American Waste Waters Association (AWWA) and Water Environment Federation (WEF).
Judy Jones, member of the WEF Board, spoke of efforts in the wastewater industry to become more energy efficient and to find carbon offsets. She said that a big challenge is the expected retirement during the next 10 years of 31 percent of the industry's workforce. A lot of the soon-to-retire baby boomers have highly specialized knowledge and experience with systems that are complex and critical. "We need to enhance the image of wastewater management," she said.
Another speaker, Dean Fritzke, vice president with American Water Works Association, has worked in the water industry for 29 years in the Pacific Northwest. He told Business Lexington that science has enabled water analysis to reach finer and finer levels. In the past, contaminants were looked at as parts per million; it is now possible to look at them as parts per billion, even per trillion, he said. He questioned what that really means for the water treatment industry. At what level do contaminants become threats to public health? He said research on such questions is ongoing. "Water can be made pure," Fritzke said, "but that comes with a price. The goal is to make it safe to drink and use, yet affordable."
The water industry is also challenged to deal with large amounts of pharmaceuticals and personal care products entering wastewater. Bob Matthews of WEF remarked about the Drug Free Water Act of 2009, a bill introduced to Congress in January and referred to Committee. The bill would direct the administrator of the EPA to create a task force to study the issue of drugs disposed in public water, and it includes a public education component. Matthews said that he doesn't think the EPA will be able to accomplish anything on the issue until the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), which he described as the "cradle" of the matter, gets involved.
"It might be time to take a second look at the Clean Water Act," said Michael Apgar, director of governmental affairs for Sanitation District No. 1 in northern Kentucky. He said that environmentalists have been focusing on point source pollution, which represents only 10 percent of the pollution problem in U.S. water, while not dealing with the 90 percent that comes from non-point source pollution (NPSP). Matthews elaborated, saying that the Clean Water Act doesn't address NPSP, and so there are no legal avenues for environmentalists to urge any kind of enforcement on it. Point source pollution includes discharges of wastewater - untreated, partially treated or treated - into waterways from identifiable channels, such as pipes or drains from industries or municipal treatment facilities. The EPA identifies NPSP as coming from "excess fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides from agricultural lands and residential areas; oil, grease and toxic chemicals from urban run-off and energy production; sediment from improperly managed construction sites, crop and forest lands, and eroding streambanks; salt from irrigation practices and acid drainage from abandoned mines; bacteria and nutrients from livestock, pet wastes and faulty septic systems; and pollutants from the atmosphere."
"It's time to regulate agriculture and its impact on water," said Matthews. "Non-point source agriculture is the biggest component of it. To regulate farmers without money puts them out of business. They can't just raise their rates like a utility." He mentioned the possibility of subsidies to help farmers comply with regulations. A main problem with agricultural run-off is the presence of pesticides, which research identifies as endocrine disruptors. Research suggests that endocrine disruptors can interfere with human reproduction systems as well as be causative agents in types of cancer. Endocrine disruptors also cause malformations in mammals, amphibians and fish. They bio-accumulate in fish and are passed on to wildlife or people that eat them. Another contaminant of concern is cryptosporidium, which has caused outbreaks of illness through drinking water in some communities. This tiny parasite has numerous sources, but one that has been well documented is run-off water from livestock manure. Chlorine has no effect on cryptosporidium, but UV light eradicates it. Matthews said there's potential for environmental non-governmental organizations to partner with waterwork associations in calling for updates to the Clean Water Act.
The water industry and clean water policy have played vital roles in lowering mortality rates and extending the average life expectancy. Water management is a crucial component of sustainability planning. The continuing challenges to scientists, engineers and water workers remain complex and in need of recruitment of well-educated talent.