Participants:

• Van Hoofnagle (FL DEP) - Chairman
• Gary Williams (FL Rural Water Association)
• Patti Daniel (FL PSC)
• Katrina Tew (FL PSC)
• Robert Powell (Pinellas County Utilities)
• Tom Walden (FL PSC)
• Bill Lowe (FL PSC)
• John Williams (FL PSC)

Discussion:
Chairman Van Hoofnagle(DEP) welcomed everyone to the meeting. The minutes from the first work group meeting on September 8th were approved.

Patti Daniel (PSC) briefly reported the activities of the Building Codes/County Ordinances/Education Work Group which had met the prior afternoon. John Williams (PSC) followed up with questions about whether DEP could require utilities to report premature water pipe failure or other evidence of hydrogen sulfide problems to city and county building departments and to provide information to DEP for purposes of mapping or creating databases on the location of the problem. Van Hoofnagle (DEP) responded that he did not think collecting data for the purpose of maps or databases was likely due to cutbacks and the workload.

Van Hoofnagle (DEP) referred to the "Pros & Cons for Establishing a Treatment Technique or Secondary Maximum Contaminant Standard for Hydrogen Sulfide" document which was distributed at the first work group meeting. Mike Leroy (DEP) was the primary author of the document. The group decided to attach it, along with the minutes of each of the first two meetings, to the notice of the September 29th Interagency Project group meeting which will be going out in the next week.

Van Hoofnagle (DEP) mentioned the possibility of adding a hotline number in the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) so that customers could report aesthetic problems with their water. Gary Williams (FRWA) voiced concern with this approach as it may encourage people to call, whether or not they are experiencing problems. Bob Powell (Pinellas County Utilities) said that Pinellas County Utilities includes a phone number for reporting water quality problems in customer bills and that they keep records of the complaints. Van Hoofnagle (DEP) also mentioned the possibility of using technical training seminars.

Van Hoofnagle (DEP) then began a discussion of another option. He explained that after eight years, DEP is opening its permitting operations rules. Whenever a new well is opened, these rules are used to require utilities to do sampling of the wells and make certain assurances. The group could propose adding something to the permitting rules to address the hydrogen sulfide problem. Relatively inexpensive tests could be done in the field to measure for pH, hardness, alkalinity, total sulfides, and hydrogen sulfide. These five measurements could be put into some tables and analyzed collectively to determine whether the well is a high risk for black water problems. If so, chlorination alone would be ruled out as an option, and some sort of certification by the utility that it has addressed the problem may be necessary.

Van Hoofnagle (DEP) noted that if DEP were to recommend a particular treatment technique, going before the Governor and Cabinet would be necessary. He suggested that it may be preferable to state that in certain circumstances, chlorination is not good enough and leave the solution up to the utility. Bob Powell (Pinellas County Utilities) agreed that it is better to leave some flexibility for the utility engineers. John Williams (PSC) added that the best solution may be to drill a new well. Utilities could do a cost/benefit analysis to decide whether to treat the well found to be at high risk for black water or to drill a new well.

Van Hoofnagle (DEP) added that he would have to speak with the agency's attorneys about rulemaking. Through the open permitting process, the new provision could be in place in a year. Van Hoofnagle (DEP) suggested that the PSC and DCA attend one of DEP's first Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meetings to take place during the week of October 23rd.

The group seemed very receptive to this regulatory guidance approach and agreed to assist DEP in this effort by developing numbers which would show whether a well is a high risk for black water problems. Gary Williams (FRWA) noted that utilities should be receptive as well, as this is really a protection of utility systems. The group clarified that this approach will address community systems. Also, the group decided that this approach should be used regardless of the size of the systems because the cheap, easy fix is not necessarily the best method. John Williams (PSC) noted that if the testing would be a problem for certain small start-up water utilities, maybe they should not be getting into the business in an increasing-cost industry in the first place. Gary Williams (FRWA) added that the FRWA might be willing to do the testing for the smaller utilities.

Van Hoofnagle (DEP) added that this should be viewed as an incremental approach, noting that there currently is not a large public outcry concerning black water.

The group discussed the upcoming Interagency Project meeting on September 29th. Van Hoofnagle (DEP) will deliver the work group's report. Some group members expressed interest in phoning in for the meeting, and Katrina Tew (PSC) agreed to get the information to them.

The group scheduled the next work group meeting for October 12th in Orlando (1:30 - 4:00 PM) since many of the participants will be there for the PSC's Class C Workshop. Bob Powell (Pinellas County Utilities) and John Williams (PSC) agreed to work on getting a meeting room.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 11:00 AM.