Septic to Sewer Task Force Update

Between December 2020-January 2021, the GPICA conducted a community survey to ask our residents and members (in Matlacha Isles, Matlacha, St. James City, Pine Island Center, Pineland and Bokeelia) about the key issues of concern to them. One of the main issues they identified was water quality. A common refrain was that “our quality of life depends on clean water for everything from our commercial fishery to recreation.”

The beauty and vitality of the waters that surround Pine Island have drawn many residents to call this Island home. However, in recent years, our waterways — like those in much of Florida’s Southwest Coast — have been plagued by toxic algae blooms. Today, Matlacha Pass and Pine Island Sound are also designated as impaired waterways for excess nutrients and/or fecal coliform.
While many of the issues impacting water quality locally require political solutions at the state and federal levels, the GPICA believes there are areas where we can work locally to help improve our waters.

In June 2021, we formed the “GPICA Septic Conversion Task Force.” The mission of this task force is to “support improved quality for the public waters surrounding Pine Island by exploring the feasibility of converting Island residences from septic to a central sewer system.”

Our goal was to follow the path of the Captiva Community Panel, which gained Lee County funding for a septic-to-sewer conversion study of the costs and benefits of connecting Captiva residences to the already-existing Sanibel wastewater treatment plant.

In September 2021, we sent a letter to Pam Keyes, Director of Lee County Utilities, and each of the Lee County Commissioners summarizing our efforts. We also requested county support for a study looking at the costs and benefits of septic to sewer conversion on Pine Island.

 

 

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