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Eckerd president blasts city over sewage study

 
Published Oct. 7, 2015

ST. PETERSBURG — In a strongly worded letter sent to Mayor Rick Kriseman, Eckerd College's president says an internal review of the city's wastewater system was a sham and needs to be revamped.

"This is not the independent inquiry that the City Council requested and that we believe is necessary to determine how the spill occurred and what should be done to ensure that such an incident never happens again," wrote Donald Eastman on Friday.

Last week, representatives from Eckerd and the Alliance of Bayway Communities met with the city's public works staff and CH2M consulting firm. The plan that emerged from the Sept. 29 meeting didn't impress Eastman.

Eastman said the scope of that study isn't sufficient and supervision should be shifted to the city's internal auditor, Brad Scott, "to ensure an independent review."

Eckerd also wants the city to release information about "exactly what was in the wastewater" that overflowed onto the college's campus Aug. 3.

Last month, the city announced that an additional 15 million gallons had spilled around Eckerd, which had not been previously disclosed to the City Council or public, although the city did report it to the state.

Eastman said the independent review should include solutions to preventing future breakdowns of an aging system, which led to more than 31 million gallons of untreated or partially treated sewage being dumped into Boca Ciega Bay and Tampa Bay as well as Eckerd's campus.

"In the two months since the spill, Eckerd's staff has not received an adequate or consistent explanation from city staff about how the failure occurred, the failure to communicate with our campus as it was occurring or why there were such high bacteria counts found on campus after the spill," Eastman wrote.

Tests conducted by the city and the college showed elevated levels of fecal coliform around the campus after the spill, a bacteria associated with feces. City officials said animal droppings were responsible.

The college has battled the expansion of the city's southwest wastewater treatment facility for a year. Initially, the college expressed concerns about the aesthetics and safety of wastewater held in a planned 15 million gallon storage tank.

Kriseman's spokesman Ben Kirby said the city hasn't received a copy of Eastman's letter.

"It's interesting that the newspaper would have a copy of the letter before we do and that it's addressed to the mayor," Kirby said. "It speaks to the motives of the letter."

The college emailed Kriseman the letter Saturday, said Eckerd spokesman Tom Scherberger.

"We are disappointed in the city's response. Our only motive was transparency," Scherberger said. He said the college and city had longstanding good relations and hoped that would continue.

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Council member Steve Kornell said he was puzzled by the city's actions. Kornell requested the study last month.

"I don't understand why you would put together a committee and then just run them over and do what you want to do. I just want to see a good study done so we can make decisions going forward," Kornell said.

Contact Charlie Frago at cfrago@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8459. Follow @CharlieFrago.