Senate Bill 2572

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    Florida Senate - 1998        (NP)                      SB 2572

    By Senator Harris





    24-1495-98

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to Charlotte County; amending

  3         ss. 1-6, ch. 65-1367, Laws of Florida, as

  4         amended; providing additional protection for

  5         specified portions of Shell Creek and Prairie

  6         Creek; prohibiting the discharge of specified

  7         pollutants into such creeks; prohibiting

  8         construction, reconstruction, extension, or

  9         alteration of certain facilities within a

10         specified distance of such creeks; providing

11         penalties; providing for injunctive relief;

12         providing an effective date.

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14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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16         Section 1.  Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of chapter

17  65-1367, Laws of Florida, as amended by chapter 67-1957, Laws

18  of Florida, are amended to read:

19         Section 1. It is declared that Shell Creek and Prairie

20  Creek, from their headwaters to the dam of the waterworks

21  system of the City of Punta Gorda, with their tributaries are

22  is a public water supply and reservoir supplying, by and

23  through such said waterworks system, water to the inhabitants

24  of the City of Punta Gorda and large areas of Charlotte

25  County, and that the protection and preservation thereof from

26  substances, matter, and acts polluting or contributing to the

27  pollution of or posing a significant threat of pollution of

28  the waters of such said parts of said creeks and their

29  tributaries are is necessary and essential to the public

30  health, safety, and welfare.

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    Florida Senate - 1998        (NP)                      SB 2572
    24-1495-98




  1         Section 2.  It is declared that each of the following

  2  acts, to-wit:

  3         (a)  The dumping, depositing, and discharging of sewage

  4  and industrial wastes, petroleum products, or toxic wastes

  5  into the waters of Shell Creek and Prairie Creek, from their

  6  headwaters to the dam of the waterworks system of the City of

  7  Punta Gorda, or their tributaries,

  8         (b)  The construction, reconstruction, extension, or

  9  alteration of any privy, cesspool, septic tank, drain field,

10  or other sewerage disposal device; any petroleum pipeline or

11  storage tank; or any pipeline or storage tank for toxic wastes

12  within two hundred (200) feet, measured from the nearest mean

13  high water mark thereof, of Shell Creek or and Prairie Creek,

14  from their headwaters to the dam of the waterworks system of

15  the City of Punta Gorda, or their tributaries, and

16         (c)  The construction, reconstruction, extension, or

17  the increasing of the capacity or volume of any sewerage

18  disposal or treatment plant from which the effluent therefrom

19  is directly or indirectly discharged into Shell Creek or

20  Prairie Creek, from their headwaters to the dam of the

21  waterworks system of the City of Punta Gorda, or their

22  tributaries,

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24  is detrimental and dangerous to the public health and safety

25  and constitutes a nuisance.

26         Section 3.  It is unlawful for any person, firm,

27  corporation, or public body to do or commit within the county

28  of Charlotte County any of the following acts, to-wit:

29         (a)  The dumping, depositing, or discharging of

30  sewerage or industrial wastes, petroleum products, or toxic

31  wastes into the waters of Shell Creek or Prairie Creek, from

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    Florida Senate - 1998        (NP)                      SB 2572
    24-1495-98




  1  their headwaters to the dam of the waterworks system of the

  2  City of Punta Gorda, or their tributaries.

  3         (b)  The construction, reconstruction, extension, or

  4  alteration of any privy, cesspool, septic tank, drain field,

  5  or other sewerage disposal device; any petroleum products

  6  pipeline or storage tank; or any pipeline or storage tank for

  7  toxic wastes within two hundred (200) feet, measured from the

  8  nearest mean high water mark of Shell Creek or and Prairie

  9  Creek, from their headwaters to the dam of the waterworks

10  system of the City of Punta Gorda, or their tributaries., and

11         (c)  The construction, reconstruction, extension, or

12  the increasing of the capacity or volume of any sewerage

13  disposal or treatment plant from which the effluent therefrom

14  is directly or indirectly discharged into the waters of Shell

15  Creek or Prairie Creek, from their headwaters to the dam of

16  the waterworks system of the City of Punta Gorda, or their

17  tributaries.

18         (d)  Provided: with the consent of the City of Punta

19  Gorda, and in such areas within two hundred (200) feet, but no

20  nearer than one hundred (100) feet, measured from the nearest

21  mean high water mark, from Shell Creek and Prairie Creek, from

22  their headwaters to the dam of the waterworks system of the

23  City of Punta Gorda, and where in such areas, in the opinion

24  of the State Board of Health, or its duly authorized

25  representative, the topography, the soil type, the ground

26  water level, and other pertinent factors are favorable, the

27  construction and operation of only individual household septic

28  tanks and drain fields for interim use pending availability of

29  central sewage and sewage treatment under chapter 153, Florida

30  Statutes, or other appropriate authority, may be allowed under

31  requirements of Florida Sanitary Code.

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    Florida Senate - 1998        (NP)                      SB 2572
    24-1495-98




  1         Section 4.  The City of Punta Gorda is authorized and

  2  empowered to restrain, enjoin, or otherwise prevent any

  3  person, firm, or corporation from any act prohibited in

  4  section 3 hereby, occurring within the city limits of the City

  5  of Punta Gorda.

  6         Section 5.  It is an offense against the City of Punta

  7  Gorda for any person, firm, or corporation to violate any of

  8  the provisions of section 3 of this act, and upon conviction

  9  thereof such person, or in the case of a firm, corporation, or

10  public body, the officers thereof, shall be punished by a fine

11  not exceeding five hundred dollars, ($500.00), or imprisonment

12  for a term not exceeding six (6) months or by both such fine

13  and imprisonment. Each day any such violation shall continue

14  constitutes shall constitute a separate offense.

15         Section 6.  Upon its it being made to appear to the

16  State Attorney of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit of Florida that

17  any person, firm, or corporation has violated or is about to

18  violate any of the provisions of section 3 hereof, it shall be

19  the duty of the State Attorney of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit

20  of Florida to bring an action to restrain, enjoin, or

21  otherwise prevent any person, firm, or corporation from

22  violating any of the provisions of section 3 of this act by

23  acts committed outside the city limits of the City of Punta

24  Gorda.

25         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

26  law.

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