The City of Minneapolis has passed a FOG ordinance that will charge a fee to property owners and businesses that put fats, oils or grease down their drains.
According to the ordinance, the city can charge property owners and businesses for the cost of cleaning, replacement or repair of city-owned sewer pipes clogged with grease.
The city has spend approximately $1 million cleaning pipes clogged with FOG since 2012, according to Bring Me The News MN.
Other Minnesota cities including Rochester, Roseville, Bloomington, Golden Valley and Duluth already have FOG ordinances in place.
Long Island Utility Under Federal Investigation
The federal Government Accountability Office will investigate a Long Island, New York, utility for how it’s handling rate increases, according to WSHU News.
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York announced the investigation would take place after New York American Water raised rates while remaining eligible to receive federal funds from the EPA to cover upgrade costs.
“I said it before and I will say it again: The steady drip-drip-drip of dubious charges, rate hikes and bad billing demanded the federal government step in and do a deep dive into New York American Water,” Schumer says in a statement.
Indirect Reuse Project in Florida Facing Resistance
A $350 million project proposal could see indirect reuse of wastewater in the city of Tampa, Florida, but a city council member and the public have questions they want answered first.
The city is seeking approval from Tampa Bay Water to pursue the project, but city council member Darden Rice is asking for a workshop to flesh out the details first. That workshop is now slated for Dec. 7. She claims the city isn’t sharing all the project details or talking about the risks she claims are associated with indirect potable reuse applications.
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn says Rice is wrong. “For somebody who is known as being an environmentalist, we’re all a little surprised at her unreasonableness on this,” Buckhorn tells Tampa Bay Times. “We’ve been at this since 2013. It’s been fleshed out. It’s going to allow the partners to have even more water, it will drought-proof the city of Tampa permanently and it’s the wave of the future.”
The project would see 50 mgd of highly treated wastewater pumped into an aquifer instead of into Tampa Bay, where it would be drawn and treated by a drinking water facility.
