Everglades City
Photos & Article by Kelly J Farrell
After years of leaking sludge due to hurricane damage and mismanagement, a rehabilitated Wastewater Treatment Plant in Everglades City will finally eliminate wastewater leaks into Chokoloskee Bay.
The $14.8 million Plant, plus another $5.7 million in area lift stations, was a partnership involving city, state and federal dollars bringing politicians who were part of eliminating the proverbial red tape to the Plant’s ribbon cutting on June 18.
“The system they had was failing. It was leaking. It was ready to basically explode,” said Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples) following the ceremonial opening of the Plant.
Everglades City Mayor Howie Grimm stands atop Everglades City’s new $14.8 million Wastewater Treatment Plant. Funded by city, state, and federal resources, the plant aims to prevent wastewater from contaminating Chokoloskee Bay and other waterways, replacing the outdated, hurricane-damaged plant and leaking septic tanks.
Everglades City Mayor Howie Grimm, who offered opening remarks about the Wastewater Treatment Plant and other City projects, had begun looking for funding to replace the Wastewater Treatment Plant since approximately 2018. By then, the Plant had already been in need of replacement for several years.
“This wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t lean on the Senator Kathleen Passidomo. She was a tremendous help getting this off the ground and she trusted us,” said Grimm.
In 2021, Florida Department of Environmental Protection had reported a spill of at least 170,000 gallons of wastewater that went into Chokoloskee Bay. DEP eventually gave the City a loan while awaiting grant funds for the project, Grimm said.
“It’s not just about us, it’s about the water quality,” said Grimm. “We take in about 750,000 to a million visitors a year,” he added.
The new Plant will serve them and approximately 400 residents in Everglades City as well as residents and businesses in Chokoloskee, Carnestown, Copeland and eventually Plantation Island, according to documents provided by Everglades City finance administrator Tammie Pernas.
Many property owners were forced to use septic tanks when the previous Plant was not operating to capacity.
Property owners on septic tanks will be converted to the new Plant to reduce the leaking that those systems are prone to having as well, Grimm said.
Officials further lauded U.S. Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Miami) for his commitment to Everglades City by garnering many of the projects’ funds.
“The City could not be completing these projects if we did not have the support from Congressman Diaz-Balart and his staff. The City will receive $6,575,000 in grants due to his efforts,” said Pernas in a prepared statement.“We cannot thank him enough for all his love for this small community,” she added.
Diaz-Balart knew firsthand the need for the Plant after having toured Everglades City in 2017 when Hurricane Irma had left the area flooded and residents living in sewage, contributing to one or more deaths. Septic tanks had no electricity for days, longer than other areas of Collier County, and they leaked in the flood water. People with nowhere to go tried to clean the muck, leading to severe health problems, officials had reported.
Main Plant’s Project Costs and Funding
The main project, the replacing of the Plant, included approximately $7.5 million in federal funds, granted to the state, 30 percent of which is part of a loan, the remaining 70 percent is grant money.
The State of Florida also gave more than $4.3 million in grant money toward the Plant. Another $3 million grant was from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Funding of Lift Stations
HUD also contributed the $2 million grant for the Chokoloskee Master Lift Station as well as approximately $890,000 for the Carnestown and Copeland Lift Stations, Pernas reported. The U.S. Department of Agriculture contributed another $450,000 toward that Carnestown and Copeland Lift Station project, bringing those lift stations’ project funding to more than $1.3 million total.
The Everglades City lift station was funded approximately half by a State of Florida grant and half by a USDA grant for the more than $2.3 million lift station project there.
Further expansion is required to get the residents in Plantation Island off septic tanks and hooked up to the new system, Grimm said.
Due to local economics and the relatively small populations of the areas served, including approximately 400 residents in Everglades City; nearly 1,000 in Chokoloskee; and several hundred combined in Carnestown, Copeland and Plantation Island, the residents of the area could not afford these projects that protect the ground water and Chokoloskee Bay without help from the larger government bodies, officials reported.
Everglades City’s financial woes have been longstanding, as evidenced in-part, when in 2019, Collier County forgave the City of a $326,000 utility loan citing the City’s losses from Hurricane Irma damage, as well as the City paying approximately $500,000 to settle a lawsuit related to wastewater mismanagement.
The former mayor, the late Sammy Hamilton, was charged with embezzlement of City funds, including as much as $50,000, leading to the end of his long tenure in 2017.
The Wastewater Treatment Plant represents an opportunity for the City to clean up the muck and move ahead with cleaner waters on the horizon.
“We’re just going to continue to move forward,” said Grimm. “This is huge not just for Everglades City, but the surrounding areas and the visitors,” he said.
