Cooper not surprised by action
By Ryan Mavity | Feb 27, 2015
REHOBOTH BEACH — The Delaware chapter of the Surfrider Foundation has appealed Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary David Small’s decision to approve Rehoboth Beach’s ocean outfall project.
The foundation filed the appeal with the state’s Environmental Appeals Board Jan. 26, saying Small’s decision was based on inaccurate factors and outdated information about land application, an alternative the foundation prefers.
“This would prevent the colossal waste of fresh water that the city is proposing by pumping it out to sea,” the foundation said in a statement.
The foundation said the city’s environmental impact statement, required to receive up to $40 million in state funding for the project, was aimed at supporting Rehoboth’s preference for ocean outfall rather than to truly exploring alternatives to dumping its treated effluent into the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal, which the city is under a court mandate to cease doing.
The city selected ocean outfall after weighing various alternatives, most notably land application, which was eliminated because it was decided there was not enough land available and it was too costly for users. While the city projected user rates with ocean outfall will eventually come close to doubling – from $324 per year in 2008 to more than $600 per year by the time the outfall is installed – it was still much less than the $1,000 per year rates that were projected under land application.
The Surfriders say the city erred in concluding there was not enough land available for land application and did not fully explore opportunities to find land. They said the city ignored comments submitted as part of the impact statement asserting that land was available.
City officials have argued that land application would not get nutrients from the effluent such as nitrogen and phosphorus out of the Inland Bays like ocean outfall would, which was the whole reason for finding an alternative in the first place. In his approval, Small said ocean outfall was the only way to remove nitrogen and phosphorus completely from the Inland Bays.
Still, the chapter said the city did not take proper consideration of the negative effects the outfall would have on fish habitat, marine species, tourism and recreation. Finally, the Surfriders said the appeals process should clarify the budget of the project, which has been estimated at $35 million.
“At the core of Surfrider’s mission is coastal conservation and compassionate protection of the ocean environment for surfers, recreational users and all creatures with whom we share our water planet,” said Gregg Rosner, chairman of the Delaware Surfrider’s water quality committee.
Mayor Sam Cooper said he was not surprised by the Surfriders appeal. He said there is nothing in their arguments that breaks any new ground or hasn’t been argued before. Cooper said the only thing he was surprised by was that the appeal was filed Jan. 26 but the Surfriders did not announce they had filed until Feb. 23.
Cooper did not seem particularly worried about the appeal itself, saying that it does not affect the city’s plans for the outfall. The only thing it does potentially affect is the funding from the state, but Cooper said in a worst-case scenario, the city could always explore other avenues to pay for the project.
Michael Globetti, spokesman for DNREC, said the department could not comment on the appeal.
An appeals hearing has been set for 9 a.m., Thursday, June 23, in DNREC’s auditorium in Dover. The Surfriders plan to call one to three witnesses to establish their standing and one to three more witnesses to support their appeal. Cooper said he did not know at this time how the process would work for defending the project, whether DNREC would take that on or leave it to the city.