EPA publishes report on treated wastewater in South Florida

May 19, 2003 -- In response to a Congressional mandate to conduct an assessment of waste management practices in South Florida - deep well injection, ocean disposal, surface discharge and aquifer recharge of treated effluent - the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a report in the Federal Register May 5 titled Relative Risk Assessment of Management Options for Treated Wastewater in South Florida (68 FR 23673), along with an accompanying Notice of Data Availability (68 FR 23666).

The assessment considers several factors important for determining risk and relates them, across all four disposal options, to determine the overall estimate of risk to both human and ecological health.

The Notice of Data Availability (NODA) summarizes information from the assessment and solicits public comment on how the deep well injection findings should inform the final determination on the July 7, 2000, proposed rule, Revision to the Federal Underground Injection Control Requirements for Class I Municipal Wells in Florida.

The report, NODA, and additional information are available on the EPA Region 4 web site at http://www.epa.gov/region4/water/uic/proposedrule.htm.