STATE OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION NOTICE OF DRAFT PERMIT

            The Department of Environmental Protection hereby provides Notice that it has prepared a Draft Permit for the proposed project as detailed in application File No. 0320678-001-002-UC/1I, subject to the conditions specified in the draft permit and summarized below. The applicant, Lee County Utilities, Ms. Pamela Keyes, Director, 1500 Monroe Street, Third Floor, Fort Myers, Florida 33902, applied on August 15, 2013 for a permit to construct and operationally test a Class I injection well system.
            The facility will construct and operationally test two non-hazardous Class I injection wells (IW-1 & IW-2) located at the Green Meadows Water Treatment Plant (WTP), located at 16001 Airport Haul Road, Fort Myers, Florida 33913 (Lee County). The injection wells are to be used for the disposal of reverse osmosis and ion-exchange regeneration concentrate from Green Meadows WTP, with IW-2 serving as a back-up to IW-1. The maximum permitted capacity of each well is 5.1 million gallons per day (MGD) or 3542 gallons per minute (gpm), with 5.1 MGD being the maximum daily injected volume at the facility. The IW-2 is to be located approximately 6900 feet east of IW-1. Additionally, it is proposed to withdraw water from IW-2, when it is not being used for injection, for regeneration of the ion exchange resin used in Water Table aquifer water treatment.
            The Department has permitting jurisdiction under Chapter 403 of the Florida Statutes and the rules adopted thereunder. The project is not exempt from permitting procedures. The Department has determined that a construction and testing permit is required for the proposed work.
            Any interested person may submit written comments on the draft permit and may request a public meeting within 30 days after publication of this public notice. A request for a public meeting shall be submitted in writing and shall state the nature of the issues proposed to be raised in the meeting. If a public meeting is later scheduled, there will be another 30-day notice period for that meeting. Written comments or a public meeting request shall be submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection, Aquifer Protection Program, 2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 3530, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400, which is the office processing this permit application. All comments received within the 30-day period will be considered in formulation of the Department's final decision regarding permit issuance.
            The application, draft permit, and fact sheet are available for public inspection during normal business hours, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except legal holidays, at the Department of Environmental Protection, South District Office, 2295 Victoria Avenue, Suite 364, P.O. Box 2549, Fort Myers, Florida 33902, and at the Department of Environmental Protection, 2600 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400. Any additional information concerning this project may be obtained by contacting Douglas Thornton, Engineering Specialist, at 850.245.8666.