Southwest Florida Water Management District employees recently removed 15 tons of tires and 68 tons of other garbage and debris from a sinkhole near Crews Lake in Pasco County.
The removal efforts are part of the District’s Springs Cleanup Initiative to remove solid waste from sinkholes and other karst features within the Springs Coast Basin, which includes Citrus, Hernando, Pasco and Marion counties. The project is in its second year and has been approved for a third year.
Karst terrain is created when water dissolves the limestone rock beneath the surface. It is characterized by caves, sinkholes and disappearing streams.
The Crews Lake sinkhole is the 16th sinkhole to be cleaned up, but it netted the most garbage and debris thus far.
“The garbage was so deep we couldn’t tell how far down the sinkhole went,” said Chris Zajac, District environmental scientist and project manager for the Springs Cleanup Initiatve.
While the Crews Lake sinkhole is located just south of the Hernando County line, it is like most of the sinkholes in the area located within groundwater recharge areas of one of the five first-magnitude springs systems: Weeki Wachee, Homosassa, Chassahowitzka, Kings Bay and Rainbow River. Some of the sinks have a direct connection to the aquifer. While the others may no longer have a direct connection, they still serve as recharge areas where water filters through the sand and other organic material to the aquifer. Garbage illegally dumped in these sinkholes can potentially degrade water quality and pose a health risk to humans.
Zajac has identified 78 potential sites for cleanup since the project began. To date, 44 of those sites were determined to be clean and do not require District involvement. Zajac locates sites by talking to state and local government officials, local residents and environmental groups. He also studies various web sites. If they are on private property, he secures an agreement with the property owner to allow the District to come in and look for debris. If debris is found, District staff work with the property owners to have it removed.
District staff and equipment are used to remove the debris, except when the sinkholes are filled with water and divers are needed. The District has a qualified commercial diving consultant under contract if divers are needed. Using District staff allows more sites to be cleaned out with the budgeted funds.
Once the debris is removed, the District works with local governments and private landowners to prevent future illegal dumping into the sinkholes.
The District’s Governing Board has budgeted $50,000 for this project for the past three fiscal years. Another $38,711 has been budgeted this year to cover disposal fees. The cost for disposing the removed debris from the Crews Lake sinkhole was $5,263.55.
Zajac is currently looking for more sites to include in the project. Anyone aware of potential sites should contact Chris Zajac at 1-800-423-1476, ext. 4275.