The article in the Washington Post had good detail and info from both sides, but the solution to the problem - land based application or spray irrigation - was not mentioned. Here is some more detail of those solutions. In the Final Environmental Impact Statement, EIS, the City of Rehoboth claims over and over that there is no land for land application or spray irrigation. The assumption of the City is that they would have to buy such land. So they went looking for land and that search is linked here. Yes, you will notice this search happened way back in 2003. While we expect the City to make such a claim, it is DNREC's job in reviewing the EIS to say "No, that's insufficient, you need to look harder for land."
Ocean outfall pipe in Del Ray Beach, FL.
As lame as the City's search for land was, they don't even need this land. Both Tidewater Utilities and Artesian testified on the Record that they would be happy to take this water. One asserts they have the land, the facilities, and the permits to deal with this water. The other provided evidence that they were prepared to buy land for this purpose (land the City couldn't seem to find by the way).
"It's a myth at best and a lie at worst"
That's what the head of the Delaware Farm Bureau said about land not being available. He commented on the Record that farmers need and want this water. The City doesn't have to believe him, or listen to him, but again, DNREC's job is to consider everything put into the Record and not just believe something because the consultants writing the EIS claim it is so.
Casting a shadow on Rehoboth Beach
Finally, we contend that the ocean outfall option will take the longest and therefore is the worst option for the environment because it increases the amount of time that pollution keeps dumping into Rehoboth Bay. The City's EIS considers cost of course. But DNREC's final decision should have considered the amount of time that each alternative would require. Shorter timelines should have been weighed more favorably as long as all other criteria were met. One bit of evidence for the long timeline is NOAA's Letter on RB Outfall Pipe, saying additional studies will be needed before construction can start.