Some Milton residents raise concerns about new wastewater treatment plant

MILTON, Fla. ( WKRG ) — The City of Milton has proposed building a wastewater treatment plant to prevent its current plant from reaching capacity. Debate on the topic took place during a meeting Thursday at city hall.

The project addresses water-quality improvements for the Blackwater River in Milton.

The current wastewater treatment plant can discharge around 2.5 million gallons of water a day into the river, averaging roughly 1.9 million gallons a day. But if there’s one more bad rainstorm, the plant could fail.

City leaders and some members of the public seemed to agree that protecting Blackwater River is a concern, but they disagreed on how to address it.

“We currently discharge that water into Blackwater River, and that’s our number one goal, is to get that treated effluent out of our river,” Ed Spears, future city manager for Milton, said.

An aquifer under Northwest Florida provides water for wells in Santa Rosa County.

The city proposed to spray reclaimed water that can charge the aquifers, but this reclaimed water potentially contains PFAS, often known as a ‘forever chemical,’ and some Milton residents are concerned about the potential harm of these chemicals being sprayed.

“We have just said the issue is the right kind of plant in the right location,” said Samples. “We’re concerned about the process that got us to where we’re at right now, and we still have concerns.”

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says the maximum contaminant level for PFAS in drinking water is 4 nanograms per liter.

“We’ll put proper filters in place and meet the standards, the drinking water standards. It’s interesting to point out that it’s not zero,” said Spears. “They’re not saying these chemicals can’t be in our water, they’re saying there’s an acceptable amount, and you just got to be under that amount.”

The city must stop dumping effluent water into Blackwater River by Dec. 31, 2025.

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