by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
State Sen. Jim King understands the health of the lower basin of the St. Johns River isn’t well and he’s all for the recently announced River Accord. But he’s also fully-aware that the future health of the entire river rest as much in the hands of what goes on upriver as what happens locally.
King plans to spend a majority of next year’s legislative session — provided he’s re-elected this fall — pushing for funding that would allow small cities and communities upriver (which is down state thanks to the fact the St. Johns flows north) to basically finance the construction of wastewater and sewage treatment plants rather than pay out of pocket now.
“We have studied the situation as it applies to the St. Johns River,” said King. “Many of those riverside communities in the upper and middle basin are very small. They may be thinking of putting in sewage treatment systems, but it’s financially impossible. They don’t have the property tax base.”
King said a vast majority of those towns use septic tank systems. While many may work just fine, King says the reality is many are failing. Those failing septic tanks — and those that will cease to work properly in the near future — leak untreated wastewater and raw sewage into the north-flowing river and towards Jacksonville. King is convinced that if he can persuade the state Legislature to fund small treatment plants for communities upriver, the health of the lower basin will improve dramatically.
Entering the next session, King believes there are two ways to finance adequate treatment plants for the dozens of small cities and communities that line the upper and middle basins of the St. Johns River.
“We can loan the money to the city of community or we can use money pledged for bonding, which gives you 10 times the amount. These small communities can’t bond themselves,” explained King. “The city or community can borrow the money from the State (of Florida) at a very low or no interest rate and pay it back over the next 20-25 years.”
King said the plan is very much in the “embryonic” stage, but did say the communities could immediately help the cause by refusing to issue new permits for septic tanks. Time-wise, it could take years to locate the funding and start building treatment plants. However, King says the entire Duval Delegation supports the idea and intends to make it a priority next spring.
“We have been talking about it as a delegation and it makes sense. It also plays into the River Accord,” said King. “Some septic tanks are leaking and some are failing. It stands to reason if more septic tanks are put in, some of the waste may be pure enough to go into the river, but who knows?”
King said it will realistically take years to physically enact the plan. However, nothing can happen until the proper legislation is filed and passed. King said he intends to put the project at the top of his list.
“If we can make the Legislature appreciate the river as it did the Everglades — and that was an $ 8 billion project — then we can make this a focus and be proactive. The only sure way to maintain a clean St. Johns River is to eliminate septic tanks,” said King, adding there are probably 100 or so such communities along the 347-mile St. Johns River. “There is probably some federal grant money available. We are hoping the mayor and the governor can encourage our Congressional delegates to squirrel away some money. But, there are more demands for that money than for just the river.”