Winter Springs addresses FDEP warning letter for potential wastewater violations

City wastewater system violations were under a microscope during the Winter Springs City Commission’s Feb. 24 meeting after the Florida Department of Environmental Protection sent a warning letter to the city on Jan. 24. 

The letter details compliance issues found within the city’s wastewater systems based on a previous FDEP plant inspection and file reviews. 

Possible violations noted include reports of “effluent exceedances,” or levels of pollutants in wastewater that exceed the legal limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency, for total suspended solids, fecal coliform and nitrate within the plant’s discharge monitoring reports. The letter also noted a failure to “annually calibrate the flow meter for the required monitoring site Rapid Infiltration Basins.”

Winter Springs public information officer Mattew Reeser said that in a February meeting between the DEP and city staff, DEP officials told the city it should focus on fixing issues with its West Wastewater Treatment Plant, and that finalization of findings and potential related penalties are ongoing.

Reeser said the city will address this most recent warning letter from FDEP within the next 90 days.

Commissioner Paul Diaz questioned if representatives for Veolia Water Technologies Inc., which oversees the city’s two wastewater plants, would be present at an upcoming workshop to discuss the city’s wastewater systems. City Manager Kevin Sweet said they would not. 

“My real question is why they’re still employed,” Diaz responded. “Why wouldn’t they be here if we’re going to have a full commission that we can ask Veolia direct, pointed questions on behalf of our residents? We’re discussing wastewater, and they’re the reason we’re having this discussion.”

“So the problem we have to be very careful with in getting into some of these issues with Veolia is we do in fact have a standing consent order, we have a warning letter,” Mayor Kevin McCann said. “That has not been addressed, the [FDEP has been] put on the back burner.”

McCann emphasized that the letter was addressing the wastewater system, not the city’s drinking water, and that the city’s ongoing negotiations with FDEP include determining what level of financial responsibility Veolia may be held accountable to for the wastewater issues. He added that Veolia’s contract would also soon be coming up for bid. 

“I think the commissioner makes a valid point, I’m just a little worried … I think it’s an education for us, but we don’t want to be putting on a confrontational thing with people on the record in a public meeting,” McCann said. “I think the attorneys have a lot of work to do while they’re working through things.”

“The current vendor that’s operating the facility is different than the path forward,” Commissioner Cade Resnick added, addressing the intended purpose of the city workshop. “Because there’ll still be a vendor operating the facility once it’s built.”

McCann responded that Diaz appeared to be asking if it was appropriate for Veolia to be at the workshop, leading to his line of questioning. Commissioner Sarah Baker asked if they “realistically” thought Veolia would bid for a contract with the city again once the current one expires, a discussion which McCann cautioned against getting into with bids soon to be open. 

“I think they should run as fast as they can,” Diaz said, laughing. 

The commission agreed to hold the wastewater workshop on March 13. 

Commissioners not informed 

During his report, Commissioner Mark Caruso revisited the letter sent by FDEP and the city’s responses regarding the issue, questioning why the commission had not been briefed properly prior to now. 

“We submitted our response to this [Oct. 1, 2024] consent order on January 27, 2025 which also references a meeting held on December [3], 2024,” Caruso said. “It’s imperative that our response is reviewed with the commission immediately — why was this not done?”

McCann responded with concerns regarding the sharing of drafts of the city’s legal counsel and its ongoing communications with FDEP. 

City Attorney Anthony Garganese and McCann said that drafts of documents were changing and being updated constantly and the city was in the middle of settlement negotiation and so the city’s response hadn’t been presented to the Commission yet. 

“There are drafts going back and forth that are public, but they’re like shifting sands,” Garganese said. “It’s a lot of back and forth going on regarding the alleged violations and the responses and the penalty amounts.”

Caruso said he understood where McCann was coming from in his concerns before continuing his report.

“We were not notified of this [Jan. 24] warning letter until after I questioned it,” Caruso said. ‘While I do not intend to micromanage our wastewater treatment facilities, it is crucial that we maintain transparency and keep the commission fully informed about these developments.”

McCann called the request “very fair”, saying that he did not intend to make excuses and that he agreed with Caruso “wholeheartedly.” 

“I don’t have an issue with the Commission getting the latest and greatest draft but I’m not sure whether this is the most current version of where we’re at because I haven’t seen it,” Garagense said, which Caruso replied it was.

Garganese said the meeting with the FDEP involved much back and forth about the “technical minutia” of the alleged violations.

“Just because they say that it’s one thing doesn’t necessarily mean it is that,” Garganese said. 

“I will make a commitment to you, because I do think when we realized that the city commission was not aware of this and I was, that we should’ve told you,” McCann later told Caruso. “That we should’ve made it real clear … I guess what I’m saying is we have a new utility director, we have a new city manager. If you want to hang this on someone, hang it on me. You have every right to that information.” 

A push to move forward

Later during public input, resident Art Gallo told the commission he was disappointed to hear the discussion on the October FDEP violation. 

“I was hoping we were beyond all this and that now we’re going to listen to all the social media input and all that garbage,” Gallo said. “Bad news doesn’t get better with age, it’s not like wine, so things like this need to be brought forward … My disappointment is that it shouldn’t be a surprise, especially to the dais, because we‘re just going to get people riled up again.”

Former commissioner Robert Miller also addressed the commission and said the issue of the city’s wastewater and other systems “goes back to ancient history.”

“There’s a lot of people that are guilty of some serious crimes in this city that are maybe not sitting up here, but they’re in the background here that have spread a lot of rumors,” Miller said. “All of you are going to be hounded by this now, unless we start working together, and let’s leave all this stuff in the background. Move forward.”

McCann ended the meeting by saying he’d previously spoken before members of the Florida Legislature in December of 2023 and said then that “spills will continue until these plants are replaced.”

“We are spilling a very small percentage compared to some of our neighboring plants,” McCann said. “[The plants] should have been replaced decades ago. I’m not pointing fingers. It’s going to happen again, folks, it’s awful. We have a responsibility, we need to keep moving forward on these plants.”

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