GUEST COMMENTARY: Grinder Pump Attacks Get Personal

In a recent posting to the BigPineKey.com “Coconut Telegraph” an anonymous writer, using a fake e-mail, initiated a personal attack against a number of the activists opposed to the extensive use of grinder pumps in the Cudjoe Regional System.  The posting was lifted from a five page diatribe that Randy Bell, the Grinder Pump salesman, wrote earlier this year and sent to the FKAA.  The posting claimed Dump the Pumps was wasting money, that Walt Drabinski, who initiated the original lawsuits and has been very vocal had no engineering degree, was incompetent and that his economic and engineering analysis were lies. The writer also initiated a really low personal attack against a select few members of Dump the Pumps.  Walt Drabinski responds as follows:

I just learned that I am not an engineer, have no experience with engineering or wastewater systems, and do not believe in the laws of physics.  I am outraged and intend to contact the State University of New York at Buffalo, one of the largest engineering schools in the nation, to tell them the degree in Electrical Engineering that they awarded me in 1972 is fraudulent.  I probably should find out whether my MBA from the Wharton School is also a fake.  For forty years, I worked as an engineer, construction project manager, engineering economics analyst, expert witness, and management consultant only to now learn I am unqualified.  The writer claims that FKAA engineers have been designing grinder pump based systems for twenty years and know best.  I guess the lift stations and grinder pumps that I worked on as an engineer and maintenance supervisor from 1972 to 1977 at a massive power plant in upstate New York and the eleven assignments I had with major water/wastewater utilities don’t count.  I assumed that since my economic analysis regarding the much higher life-cycle cost of a grinder pump system versus a gravity system has never been challenged, that my concerns regarding leaks from a pressure system into the fresh water lens of the Big Pine Key Deer Reserve have never been questioned, and that my concerns regarding the legality and reliability of the pumps and motors being used were never responded to that I wasn’t too far off in my concerns.

While I am not a member of the Dump the Pumps group that has fought against the imposition of grinders and their economic and environmental impact, I have great respect for every person involved.  I have attended many of their meetings and have met scientists, engineers, biologists, lawyers, accountants, teachers, retirees and other wonderful people who actually care about the environment of the Florida Keys, not just meeting minimum state limits.  If you have ever met Banks Prevatt, the “realtor” maligned in the article, you will find him to be a man’s man who has undertaken this endeavor for noble reasons.  As for the more colorful characters that support a clean environment, really; aren’t we in the Keys?  Having someone who talks to Angels on your side or someone willing to chain himself to a tree on principle as a supporter kind of meets the Keys criteria for an inclusive team.  I have received calls and met with many FKAA and County employees who are embarrassed by what is going on and who have thanked me and the others for our effort.  Were they not in fear of losing their jobs, they would be more vocal.

What has the impact of these terrible activists been to date?   Had  we not interceded almost a year and one half ago, we would have 2,800 grinders, not 1,500; there would be no generator connections on the units; the electronic controls would not have been isolated from the toxic fumes; there would be no central alarm system; there would not have been an increase in generator trucks to respond after power outages; and E-one and FKAA would never have acknowledged in writing that the grinder pump units were in fact a hazardous location that must meet National Electric Code and National Fire Protection Association requirements.  BTW, rather than retrofitting the units with explosion proof motors, E-one proposes increasing the minimum water level in the tank to 31 inches so that the motors are always submerged and cannot explode.  When applied to the units on each property, this results in the use of about only half of the tanks capacity, reducing the original one day of storage during a power outage significantly, before the sewage backs up into your home.  So what we have is a system that has been cobbled together, will have a long term cost of twice that of a gravity system, and an expected life span of about 25 years unless we get a tidal surge.  Almost every grinder pump inundated by the surge from Super Storm Sandy had to be replaced.  Imagine another Wilma and having 1,500 grinder pumps destroyed.  It will be months before homeowners will be allowed to return to their homes.

I attended part of the hearing on the Dump the Pumps challenge to the permits issued by the DEP.  Between the DEP, the FKAA and E-one, there were eight attorneys fighting this small band of activists.  FKAA paid huge sums to bring in experts from around the world, while the Dump the Pump experts all contributed their expertise pro bono.  Residents of the Keys are a fiercely independent bunch and do not take kindly to the County, FKAA, E-one and the DEP screwing up our environment and our lives just to save money.  Organizations that stand up and challenge the established government bureaucracy should be applauded not demeaned. I estimate that between 100 and 200 local residents and HOAs have contributed to the various groups fighting this absurd sewer system.  Every resident and visitor should first thank them and then take out their checkbook and donate to Dump the Pumps and the other activist groups.