State of Florida

Department of Environmental Protection

Notice of Draft Permit

The Department of Environmental Protection hereby provides notice that it has prepared a draft permit for the proposed project as detailed in the application, subject to the conditions specified in the draft permit and summarized below. The applicant, Hillsborough County Public Utilities Department, Lisa Rhea, PE, Director of Water Resource Services, 925 East Twiggs Street, Tampa, Florida 33602 applied on May 21, 2024, for a Class V aquifer recharge injection well construction permit. The project is located at North Hillsborough Aquifer Recharge Project Site 3, 11505 Country Hollow Drive, Tampa, Florida 33635, in Hillsborough County (File 0449057-001-UC/5R, WACS ID 108351).

The permittee will construct and operationally test one, non-hazardous Class V, Group 2 injection well NRWD-3 and associated single zone monitor wells, NMWC-3 and NMWD-3. Injection well NRWD-3 will be constructed to recharge the Floridan aquifer with reclaimed water treated to high-level disinfection standards from the Hillsborough Countys Northwest Regional Advanced Waste Water Treatment Facility (AWWTF) and will act as a saltwater intrusion barrier and a water level mitigation well. The maximum proposed injection rate for NRWD-3 shall be 3,500 gallons per minute and the maximum injection volume for of 5 million gallons per day. The injection well be constructed with a 16-inch diameter casing set to 700 feet below land surface (bls), a cemented annulus, and total depth of 1,150 feet bls. The single-zone monitor wells NMWC-3 and NMWD-3 will be completed in the Upper Floridan aquifer with monitoring zones from 320 to 400 feet bls and 700 to 850 feet bls, respectively.

The Department has permitting jurisdiction under Chapter 403 of the Florida Statutes and the rules adopted thereunder. The project is not exempt from permitting procedures. The Department has determined that an Underground Injection Control permit is required for the proposed work.

Any interested person may submit written comments on the draft permit and may request a public meeting within 30 days after publication of this public notice. A request for a public meeting shall be submitted in writing and shall state the nature of the issues proposed to be raised in the meeting. If a public meeting is later scheduled, there will be another 30-day notice period for that meeting. Written comments or a public meeting request shall be submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection, Aquifer Protection Program, 2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 3530, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400, which is the office processing this permit application. All comments received within the 30-day period will be considered in formulation of the Departments final decision regarding permit issuance.

The files associated with this order are available for public inspection during normal business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except state holidays, at the Department of Environmental Protection, Southwest District, and at the Department of Environmental Protection, Aquifer Protection Program office in Tallahassee. Any additional information concerning this project may be obtained by contacting Dan Warmke, Professional Geologist at 813-470-5741.

04/23/2025 34314