Deputy city manager explains concern about not ‘stepping on toes’ of county Health Department staff
With the executive director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program having warned in an Aug. 16 report that segments of Sarasota Bay had higher bacterial counts than those recorded following Hurricane Ian in late September 2022, city residents have complained that city staff was remiss in not posting appropriate signage on the city’s waterfront, to deter people from even putting a hand in the bay.
However, during the regular City Commission meeting on Aug. 19, Deputy City Manager Patrick Robinson explained that the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County (DOH-Sarasota) is the agency that handles routine water testing and, when samples indicate the necessity of doing so, posts signs warning people not to enter the water or swim.
Noting that he had tried “pretty much all day” on Aug. 19 to reach Chuck Henry, the county’s Health Officer, Robinson explained to the commissioners, “I just want to make sure that we’re not stepping on any toes by taking over a duty we generally do not do.” He noted that staff did post signage in the area of the city’s 10th Street Boat Basin where the city lost more than 17 millions of combined raw sewage and partly treated sewage during the height of the tropical storm’s flooding.
The overflow began at 4 a.m. on Aug. 5 and continued until 11:55 p.m. on Aug. 8, city staff informed the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) on Aug. 10.
Tropical Storm Debby produced more rainfall in Sarasota County the first week of August than in any other county in Florida, Sarasota County Government staff has reported.
Again, Robinson told the commissioners on Aug. 19, “We don’t generally put up health advisories on beaches and parks. That being said,” he continued, “this is an extraordinary set of circumstances, so we’ll talk to Mr. Henry” and proceed accordingly.
Robinson did point out that multiple members of the news media had reported on the city’s sewage overflow into Sarasota Bay, after city staff conveyed the details to FDEP.
“I appreciate that,” Mayor Liz Alpert responded to Robinson’s remarks. “I’m being ripped on social media,” she added, “that it’s all my fault that there was no notice [provided to the public].”
Ron Kashden of Laurel Park, Alpert’s challenger for the District 2 seat on the City Commission, remarked on the situation during the Citizens Comments portion of the Aug. 19 session. He urged the commissioners, “At this meeting, please ask city management one question: What is the mechanism that the city has to inform the public about a health concern, issuing a health advisory for hazardous water conditions?”
On Aug. 20, the News Leader contacted the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County (DOH-Sarasota) to ask for any information that Health Officer Henry could provide about the signage issue. Henry responded with a statement via Steve Huard, the department’s public information officer:
“We always recommend caution when considering recreational activities in the water immediately after major storms and flooding events,” Henry began. “This is especially true for primary contact recreation, including swimming, bathing, surfing, water skiing, tubing, water play by children, and similar water contact activities where a high degree of bodily contact with the water, immersion and ingestion are likely,” Henry continued.
“The Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County does not monitor water quality in the bays or estuaries other than designated healthy beach locations,” he added. “DOH-Sarasota’s staff of environmental health scientists have been monitoring our beaches since 1998. This helps to ensure public health and safety as well as a timely response to environmental accidents and concerns,” Henry wrote. “This includes posting signs advising the public when potential health risks exist. DOH-Sarasota environmental scientists monitor county beaches for levels of enterococci bacteria, an indicator of potential fecal contamination. Water samples are collected on a weekly basis. The most recent test results are available here.
“Additionally,” Henry pointed out, “we maintain a local web page where both bacteria and red tide sampling results are posted each week. You can find those at https://sarasota.floridahealth.gov/programs-and-services/our-gulf-env/index.html
In a look at the DOH-Sarasota website, the News Leader found the results of the water testing that the agency’s staff undertook on Aug. 12. No samples indicated the need to post “No Swim” advisories, the charts indicated.
A warning first from the Suncoast Waterkeeper
A News Leader review of the city’s email folder this week found that, at 9:59 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 15, Abbey Tyrna, executive director of the nonprofit Suncoast Waterkeeper, which is based in Sarasota, wrote senior City of Sarasota staff members — including City Manager Marlon Brown and Deputy City Manager Robinson — to report, “I have been asked several times whether the city will be posting signage about the potential pollution risk associated with the discharge of sewage.”
On Aug. 7, she continued, when she collected the Suncoast Waterkeeper’s weekly samples, she found “very low salinity levels and high FIB [fecal indicator bacteria] concentrations in all city areas.” She attached a graphic with details.
As the New Jersey Center for Water Science and Technology, located at Montclair State University, explains, “The presence of FIB is … a measure of the potential of the water to contain pathogens and not an actual measurement of the pathogen concentration.”
The Center adds, “Both drinking and recreational waters have standards for the allowable amount of FIB. Testing the waters involves taking a sample to the laboratory and passing it though a very fine filter. FIB become trapped on the filter. The filters are then placed into an incubator. The bacteria grow and multiply to form distinct colonies. These can be counted either with the naked eye or with a low power magnifier. The number of colonies counted at the end of the incubation period gives us the amount of bacteria in the original water sample. A simple test for FIB can be performed in about one day.”
On Aug. 14, Tyrna added in her Aug. 15 email, she collected more samples, which showed the salinity levels “were pretty much back to normal but the results indicate concerning levels of bacteria …”
She then asked, “Has the city been doing its own monitoring of waters adjacent to the wastewater treatment facility? If so, where can those results be found?
“We would love to work with you on deploying signage as soon as possible,” Tyrna continued. “Furthermore, we would be happy to add locations to our weekly FIB monitoring if it would be helpful.”
The next email in the chain, sent at 9:14 .m. on Aug. 16 from Dave Tomasko, executive director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (SBEP) to Tyrna, copied the same senior city staff members to whom she had sent her Aug. 15 email, including Doug Jeffcoat, the city’s Public Works Department director.
Tomasko pointed out, “We have enterococci values from last week that [were] WAY over Class 3 Marine standards — at locations out in the middle of the bay. Which means, those values would be even higher closer to the mainland, and in creeks. And yet, we saw folks swimming in the bay yesterday — yikes!”
Then he noted, “We have put out three Director’s Notes informing people to stay out of the bay’s waters until they get better, which could still take a few weeks.”
Tyrna responded to Tomasko at 10 a.m. on Aug. 16, copying the same list of recipients:
“Thank you for the update, Dave. I also noticed people swimming in the bay on Wednesday. It’s worrying that no central agency is currently collecting information on adverse impacts if they get sick. This means we may never fully grasp the potential impact of not effectively warning people about the risks of recreating in bay waters. The consequences could be significant.”
Tyrna added, “I hope the City of Sarasota will join us in warning the public about the dangers of recreating in the bay.”
Next, the correspondence chain shows, Tyrna sent an email at 10:40 a.m. to Mayor Alpert and Vice Mayor Jen Ahearn-Koch. She was forwarding to them, she noted, “some of the messages we sent City staff about the state of bay waters. We are asking for warning signs to be posted for the public because of the unsafe conditions of bay waters.”
Tyrna also asked that Alpert and Ahearn-Koch review what she called the “fecal indicator bacteria results from the past two Wednesdays (8/7 and 8/14),” adding, “The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has approved our monitoring results, which will be uploaded into the state’s WIN database.”
Finally, just before 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17, Mayor Alpert responded to Tyrna: “I am copying the city manager and deputy city manager regarding the issue of warnings regarding bacterial conditions in the bay so that the appropriate staff can respond.”
Approximately 45 minutes later, Deputy City Manager Robinson emailed Luke Mocherman, an assistant in the city’s Communications Department, asking him to “post the most recent Water Keepers graphic related to the water quality in the bay on all our social media.” Robinson added, “Please include a swim advisory with the graphic.”
A few minutes later, Robinson notified Brown and Alpert about his direction to Mocherman.
Just before 12:15 p.m. that day, Robinson sent an email to Jan Thornburg, general manager of the city’s Communications Department, as well as Alpert and Brown. He pointed out, “There are questions about whether republishing the Suncoast [Waterkeeper’s] information should be done by the City of Sarasota or the department of health. The Suncoast [Waterkeeper has] shared that information on their social media, which has been picked up by multiple media outlets. Posting signage and, posting health advisories is not something we generally do as a matter of practice …” Instead, he continued, “we re-publish the Department of Health notices. I spoke with [county Health Officer] Chuck Henry this morning prior,” Robinson continued, “but I think I need to circle back with him to have a longer conversation about these type of events and the information being published by the Suncoast [Waterkeeper].”
In another email chain, on Aug. 16, the News Leader found that a city resident had emailed Vice Mayor Ahearn-Koch, copying the other commissioners, in asking, “Can you tell me who is responsible for issuing swim advisories for the bay? My 3 year old granddaughter was visiting last week and we came very close to using the little beach near the Ibis playground [in Bayfront Park]. I am sure other young children use that for wading. This lack of proactive outreach could have had dire consequences.”
The resident added, “I am really concerned/furious that no advisories were released — at least as far as I know. I realize that fecal analysis numbers have to be taken but if sewage spills occur, isn’t it smart to issue an advisory pending water analysis?”
The writer concluded the email thus: “Thank you for helping me understand who is in charge and why this happened.”