Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida Ditchmen - August 2020 | Page 29
QUICKBITS
these systems is the most
appropriate wastewater solution.
Thank you for your patience during
this transition. If you have any
questions about a Septic Upgrade
Incentive Program in your county,
please contact your local county
officials or:
■ Water and Springs Restoration
Program
■ Division of Water Restoration
Assistance
■ [email protected]
You can also visit the Department
of Health’s Onsite Sewage Program
Website for more information
on septic systems and nutrient
reducing technology/research.
PSC ADVISED AGAINST TAKING ACTION
IN INTRACOASTAL DISPUTE
August 26, 2020 | NSF Staff
State regulators are being advised against taking
action next week in a dispute over unpermitted
utility lines that are helping keep mega-yachts from
accessing a portion of the Intracoastal Waterway
in Broward County. Public Service Commission
staff members have recommended against a
request by the Florida Inland Navigation District
to require AT&T to relocate the lines from waters
along Fort Lauderdale “in a timely and effective
manner.” The issue is expected to come up at a
Public Service Commission meeting Tuesday.
A staff report said the commission doesn’t have
authority over the lines, which have been an issue
between the district and the telecommunication
company for at least five years. In September
2015, the district advised AT&T about the need
to replace the lines with permitted utility lines as
plans were moving to deepen a two-mile section
of the Intracoastal channel in Fort Lauderdale. The
district asserts AT&T’s inaction has delayed the
Broward Deepening Project and caused Florida
taxpayers “unnecessary costs.” The Public Service
Commission staff report noted the purpose of the
project is access of mega-yachts to the channel.
“The traffic of these vessels is believed to provide
an economic benefit to the city,” the staff report
said. The navigation district is requesting that the
commission “in its supervisory role over Florida’s
regulated utilities, review and consider this
situation, and encourage AT&T (and its permitting
agents) to relocate its subaqueous utility lines in a
timely and effective manner.”
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