ayor Frank Caplan remains concerned about whether the powers-that-be will address major concerns like how rising sea level and storm level can threaten Miami-Dade County’s sewage plant on Virginia Key, and he’s seeking allies in the fight to make sure they do.
After Vice Mayor Mayra Pena Lindsay on Tuesday, March 14, sought an update on the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department Central Treatment Plant, Caplan said he is meeting with leaders from four other South Florida cities to seek their support for real fixes at the troubled plant, and also plans to bring up the issue with a coastal commission on which he serves.
“It’s an issue of great consequence. There’s a lot going on, and a lot of people involved,” Caplan said, adding he’ll update the Council further at its next meeting.
On the 14th, the Mayor noted he is still concerned about the fact that a consent decree between WASD and the Environmental Protection Agency – drafted to repair numerous violations of the EPA’s Clean Water Act that are occurring at the Virginia Key plant – does not include any real requirement to addressing inevitable sea level rise and the threat of hurricane storm surge.
“I think it’s probably accurate to say the County Mayor and administration around him acknowledge that sea level rise and storm surge and the exposure of the Virginia Key Plant as it is – compounded with the probable if not certain loss of shoreline – is unquestionably an issue that has to be taken into account in planning,” he said.
Unfortunately, Caplan added, “The value of that is dubious.”
The Mayor said that’s because the consent decree makes zero reference to sea level rise and storm surge “as a planning point or principal,” meaning there is no direct order for the plant to be strengthened or relocated to protect against those threats.
“That’s not just worrisome, it’s unacceptable,” Caplan said.
Pena Lindsay asked if there’s any way “to get the EPA to be a little more demanding,” and Caplan said that’s a possibility he needs to look into. However, “So far, they have taken no overt responsibility to anything to do with siting, shoring up or hardening,” he said, noting the agency is focused on abatement of sewage outflows, which is the violation tied to its Clean Water Act.
Caplan said he’ll continue to work on pushing the Key’s concerns.
He reported he had a meeting scheduled for this week with leaders from South Miami, Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay to get those cities on board with pushing for meaningful changes at the plant: “We need to speak with one voice,” Caplan remarked.
The Mayor has also brought up concerns about the sewage plant with the Coastal Ocean Task Force on which he sits; he said he’ll continue trying to get support from the group, which is tied into federal coastal preservation efforts.
Along with that activity, Caplan said he continues to get a wealth of information from Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper and a group of resident volunteers. The Council recently provided BBWK a $10,000 grant to continue working with experts to study how the situation on Virginia Key might impact Key Biscayne – and what the Village can do to protect itself – and Caplan said the group continues to be very active in funneling information to the Village.
Pena Lindsay asked if there’s anything else the Council could be doing, and Caplan said he plans to bring back the issue in the near future, after he has heard an official position from other local governments and the Coastal Ocean Task Force.