STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, the Division of Administrative Hearings by its duly designated Hearing Examiner, K. N. Ayers, held a public hearing on the above matter February 20, 1975, Miami, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Robert G. Worley

Worley Grautier & Sams

Greater Miami Federal Building, 10th floor Miami, Florida

For Respondent: There were no protestants.

1. By this application to the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, Miami-Dade Water & Sewer Authority seeks authorization to install a 90 in. inside diameter reinforced concrete sewer outfall line from the proposed sewage treatment facility in north Miami, eastward across the intercoastal waterway, and into the Atlantic Ocean.

   
   

2. Mr. Garrett Sloan, Director, Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Authority, and Harold N. Estes Jr., Project Engineer for the prime contractor of the project, testified in support of the application.

   
   

3. The Water and Sewer Authority has responsibility to provide waste water systems for Dade county. The project here involved is in the northern district which extends generally

   southward from the Dade-Broward county line to Baker's Haulover. This portion of Dade County has been placed under a building moratorium due to insufficient waste water treatment and disposal facilities. The present sewage disposal system collects raw sewage and discharges it into the Atlantic Ocean. The proposed treatment plan will treat all waste water in the northern district, providing 95 percent B.O.D. removal and discharge the treated effluent through the proposed 90 in. outfall some 12,000 feet offshore into the Atlantic Ocean. Easements and rights of way have been obtained from the owners of the property through which this line will pass. The major owner involved is Inter- America Center Authority (Interama) who granted the Water and Sewer Authority a permanent easement over a route Interama considered would be consonant with the latter's development plans for the tract.

   
   

4. The northern boundary of the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve is at 163rd Street and the proposed outfall line will be about 1/3 mile south of this boundary. Those mangroves an each side of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) that will be disturbed while the line is laid will be replanted when the trench is backfilled. While crossing the Intracoastal Waterway (Biscayne Bay), all requirements of the Department of Pollution Control will be met.

   
   

5. The least expensive route for this outfall line would run due east of the treatment plant. The route was extended to the southward to avoid disturbing substantial mangrove stands. The request of the Department of Natural Resources that the route be moved approximately 200 feet further south was not acceptable to Interama.

   
   

6. The only portion of this application that is involved with the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve Act, Chapter 74-171, Laws of Florida, (hereinafter referred to as the Act) is that portion crossing the Intracoastal Waterway. From Ex. 2, the aerial photograph of the area involved showing the pipeline crossing, it would appear that no significant difference in effect upon plant growth would occur by moving the pipeline a few hundred feet either north or south of the selected route. In the absence of opposition, the evidence need not be further delineated except to say the project is essential and the construction will comply with the provisions of the Act.

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

7. This application is governed by the provisions of Section

   5 of the Act which provides in part:

   
   

   Reasonable improvement for ingress and egress, mosquito control, shore protection, public utility expansion, and similar purposes may be permitted by the trustees of the internal imaravement trust fund, or department of pollution control, subject to the provisions of any other applicable laws under the jurisdiction of other agencies.

   
   

8. The project here involved is essential to allow the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Authority to comply with existing laws regarding waste water treatment and disposal. The only questions remaining are whether or not the route of the proposed outfall line is a reasonable one from the ecology standpoint, and whether or not the dredging that will be required to trench the line across Biscayne Bay is conducted in such a manner so as to preserve the water quality of Biscayne Bay. As noted above, relocating the route a few hundred feet north or south of the proposed route would have little effect upon the number of man groves disturbed on each bank of the Intracoastal Waterway, and the applicant will replant those mangroves removed as a result of the trenching. Since the trenching across Biscayne Bay will be done in accordance with the requirements of the Department of Pollution Control, the agency charged with the primary

responsibility of preventing pollution of the waters of the state, the purposes and intent of the Act will be satisfied.

From the foregoing the Hearing Officer concludes that the granting of the application is required in the public interest and will not conflict with the requirement of the Act. It is therefore,

RECOMMENDED that the application of the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Authority be approved so as to authorize the installation of a 90 in. inside diameter sewage outfall line across Biscayne Bay as more fully described in the application.

K. N. AYERS, Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

(904) 488-9675

COPIES FURNISHED:

Trustees of the Internal Robert G. Worley, Esquire Improvement Trust Fund Worley Grautier & Sams, State of Florida 10th floor, Greater Maimi

Elliott Building Federal Building

Tallahassee, Florida Miami, Florida

Docket for Case No: 75-002158

Orders for Case No: 75-002158