DEP’s Deepwater Horizon Program Helps Fund Carrabelle Septic to Sewer Project

Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for Carrabelle Septic to Sewer Project:

The Florida Trustee Implementation Group approved use of Natural Resources Damage Assessment funds for the City of Carrabelle’s Lighthouse Estates Septic Tank Abatement-Phase II Project in its “Restoration Plan 1: Habitat Projects on Federally Managed Lands; Nutrient Reduction; Water Quality; and Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities” in March 2019.

DEP, as implementing Trustee, executed an agreement with the Northwest Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD) to oversee the work. NWFWMD funded Phase I and executed an agreement with the city who contracted the work.

DEP is providing approximately $3.2 million in funding for the project which will directly improve water quality in watersheds injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill by reducing the discharge pollutant loading that otherwise would impact the health and quality of estuarine habitats in receiving waters. The project will also help to reduce the potential for beach closures, restrictions on shellfish harvesting, and human health impacts from microbial pathogens. Additionally, nitrogen loading to St. George Sound and Apalachicola Bay from the Lighthouse Estates area will be reduced due to the significantly improved water quality treatment achieved by the city’s wastewater plant as compared with that provided by the individual septic systems.