Sewer Plant Responds to Public Pressure

Delray Beach, Florida – December 16, 2006:  More than four decades after
a pipe began to spew sewage into the ocean and nearly five years after
divers saw pollution-fed toxic algae beginning to smother the coral reef
downstream of that pipe, the stuff that goes down the toilets and drains
of more than 200,000 people will now be going underground.

In a modern day replay of the classic David and Goliath tale, the
decision to end the ocean dumping was the culmination of a four-year
struggle by a group of scuba divers who drew attention to the effects of
the outfall on the nearby coral reef system.  It is a quest that has
been dogged by reports from the diver’s nonprofit group, Palm Beach
County Reef Rescue, linking the sewage to an algae bloom killing the
reef system that brings over $200 million in spending and jobs to Palm
Beach County, Florida each year.

The reports have led environmental groups to threaten a lawsuit if the
sewer plant’s ocean dumping permit was renewed and to sell T-shirts
inviting tourists to "Surf the Sewer" and to visit "Sewage by the Sea,"
in a parody of Delray Beach's Village by the Sea logo. Hundreds of
tourists, residents, scientists and officials have inundated the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection with letters and e-mails arguing
against a new ocean discharge permit.

See FULL news articles:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcsouth/content/local_news/epaper/2006/12/14/s1c_s
ewage_1214.html

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pwastewater14dec14,0,110737
.story?coll=sfla-news-palm

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcsouth/content/local_news/epaper/2006/12/15/s1c_W
ASTE_1215.html

See sewage video:

http://www.reef-rescue.org/video/RRDelraySewage.wmv