Project Summary

2. Habitat Restoration/Protection
Wetlands
River systems
Beaches/Dunes
Offshore areas
Mangroves
Assisting Species at Risk
Pollution Mitigation
Non-Point Source Pollution
Other (describe)

3. Project description (100 words or less)

Description of the Issue to be Resolved by the Project

This demonstration project will implement innovative pollution-prevention measures and wastewater BMPs at a privately-owned seafood processing facility in order to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus loadings into Lake Thonotosassa, Hillsborough River and Tampa Bay. The load reductions will exceed any required by regulatory agencies through the NPDES permitting process. These reductions will be accomplished through improved by-product handling procedures within the facility and by converting existing waste materials (e.g., inedible shellfish tissue, process water, floor scrapings and packaging materials) into usable products. The resulting products will include a cattle food product, a pest control material that can serve as an alternative to methyl bromide in strawberry production, and an alternative water source for commercial ornamental horticultural nurseries. Emphasis will be placed on process improvements and BMPs that prove most cost-effective for the project's private sector participants. Emphasis will also be placed on BMPs that have the greatest potential for adoption by similar industrial facilities and agricultural operations in West Central Florida and throughout the country.

Description of the Proposed Project

Tampa Bay Fisheries is a DEP-permitted shrimp processing facility that supplies processed product to restaurants and grocery stores. The facility is located on Gallager Road in Dover, FL, situated in the Lake Thonotasassa/Hillsborough River Watershed. The Hillsborough River flows through Temple Terrace and the City of Tampa before emptying into Tampa Bay. The South West Florida Water Management District has designated Lake Thonotosassa the District's eighth-ranked SWIM priority water body. Lake Thonotosassa is Hillsborough County's largest lake and one of its most degraded. The lake is of regional significance because it discharges to a segment of the Hillsborough River that provides municipal water supply for the City of Tampa.

Lake Thonotosassa has historically been the recipient of numerous pollutant discharges. Until 1992, one of the major sources of nutrients into the lake came from a seafood processing facility at the site of Tampa Bay Fisheries. This seafood processing facility discharged effluent into Baker Creek that emptied into Lake Thonotosassa. The facility was closed for several years but re-opened under new ownership in 1996. The new management installed improved management practices, new wastewater treatment systems, effluent sprayfields and added effluent discharge sites to manage the nutrients in their industrial wastewater. The plant currently has a wastewater treatment system that treats effluent from food washing and plant wash downs. The treated wastewater is applied to hay fields and is also used for other agricultural applications.

Tampa Bay Fisheries also produces some solid waste. The solid waste consists of shrimp shells and floor sweepings. The shrimp shells are bagged, compacted and sent to the landfill. The floor sweepings, composed mainly of breading and shrimp pieces, are sent to the county resource recovery complex.

Tampa Bay Fisheries recognized that its wastes should be recycled into products instead of adding to the waste stream. Representatives from the facility approached DEP's Ecosystem Management staff with a request to investigate alternative uses for their current wastes. DEP Watershed Management staff and partners identified several re-use options.

One re-use option is the use of the shrimp shells as a methyl bromide alternative for the strawberry industry. Methyl bromide is a broad spectrum pesticide that is currently used at planting time to eliminate nematodes, weeds, and soil-borne pathogens from planting beds. The industry will soon be prohibited from using the pesticide and is looking at viable alternatives. Researchers with the University of Florida have found crab shell chitin to have many of the qualities of methyl bromide when used on certain crops. DEP, with partners UF, EPC, the Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP), Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), the Florida Strawberry Growers, strawberry farmers and private industry propose a project to examine the effectiveness of shrimp shell chitin as a methyl bromide alternative.

DEP and UF along with partners, TBEP, EPC, SWFWMD, Sunshine State Milk Producers Inc., private industry, a local dairy and a local beef producer propose a second project for re-use of by-products from the Tampa Bay Fisheries' operation. The objective of the second project is to compost the floor scrapings, shrimp shells and solids from the wastewater treatment system into a product to be formulated into cattle feed.

Last, partners will investigate re-use options for the wastewater that is currently being land applied to a hay field. Local ornamental horticulture nurseries have expressed an interest in participating in a wastewater re-use project. Use of the re-use water would reduce ground water pumping for irrigation and would reduce the nutrients needed for fertilization. This demonstration project will provide a template for use by other facilities and agencies. The project will also include an educational component.

4. Goals/Benefits (quantify where possible using measures of success list) Was a cost-benefit study conducted for this project? yes/no If yes, provide a summary of findings.

5. Partners (include each participant's responsibilities - funding, permitting, etc.)

Tampa Bay Fisheries
Tampa Wholesale Nursery
UF Agricultural and Biological Engineering
UF Hillsborough County Cooperative Extension Service
UF Horticulture
UF Gulf Coast Research and Education Center at Dover, FL
FDEP
HCEPC
HC Department of Public Works
TBEP
Envirologics International, Inc.
Predation — Preditors for Pest Control Gore Dairy
Carlton and Carlton Ranch

6. Funding/Contributions (organization and amount)

Cash

Federal

Non Federal

State government
Local government
Private industry
Public interest groups

Total

In-Kind Services (hours, equipment, or other forms of assistance and estimated dollar value)

Volunteers (number of people and hours, and estimated dollar value)

7. Legislative authorities used by each participant

8. Value added by Coastal America Partnership including Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) goals achieved through this collaboration (500 words or less)

9. Project Status

• Initiation date:
• Completion date:
• Current stage: (Initiated - I, Underway - U or Completed - C)

10. Contacts

11. Any additional information/comments