New well war breaks out between

Last Stand and Florida DEP

 

 

BY TERRY SCHMIDA

 

 

All’s well that ends well, except when, well . . . it ends up in court.

 

 

Just a month after Cudjoe Key fisherman Mike Laudicina succeeded in pressuring the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority – by way of a lawsuit – to build a deep injection well at a wastewater treatment plant in his area, a new well fracas is taking place. This time the fight is between the local environmentalist group Last Stand, and the private firm KW Resort Utilities, which wants to build two shallow wastewater wells on a Stock Island property. Last Stand wants the company to build one much deeper one, in order to protect the environment.

 

 

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which has issued permits for two shallow wells is caught in the middle.

 

 

At press time, the case was still in litigation before a state Department of Administrative Hearings judge at the Key West courthouse on Simonton Street, with little indication of how it will shake out.

 

 

In a nutshell, KW Resort Utilities has a pair of shallow wells handling about a half-million gallons of treated effluent daily. The company wants to increase this capacity to an average of about 850,000 gallons, which is just shy of the 1 million gallon mark that triggers DEP requirements for a deep well.

Given that the firm plans to add effluent from Florida Keys Community College, the county jail, and Key West Golf Club to the mix, Last Stand contends that the eventual output will far exceed the DEP’s million gallon threshold, and thus require a deep well.

 

 

The KW Resort Utilities lawyer, Bart Smith was not eager to discuss the case when contacted by telephone, but he has previously indicated that his camp sees no connection between their case and Laudicina’s which is still active, despite the climbdown by the FKAA on the Cudjoe Key injection well last month.

 

 

“As much as I would like to discuss the views of my client, we’re in active litigation right now, and to comment on the merits of the case would go against trial strategy,” Smith said. “Beginning [May 11] both sides will be submitting proposed recommended orders, which will succinctly state both sides’ arguments. We’re going to wait until then to make our points.”

 

 

Last Stand Board member George Halloran was more forthcoming.

 

 

“[KW Resort Utilities] have said they need more wells,” he said. “But we have several issues with their plan, and we think the DEP should have rejected this permit. Our experts say they’ll be up over a million gallons almost immediately, and their plans should reflect that.”

 

 

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