Huge Win for Our Nearshore Water Quality

HUGE WIN FOR OUR NEARSHORE WATER QUALITY: City of Marathon agrees to settle Clean Water Act lawsuit, will cease to use shallow water wells in sewage treatment.Friends of the Lower Keys (FOLKs) and the city of Marathon have settled the Clean Water Act lawsuit FOLKS filed against Marathon in January 2022. FOLKs alleges that Marathon has been violating the federal Clean Water Act since 2009 through its use of shallow sewage wells to dispose of partially treated sewage effluent. “FOLKs is an all-volunteer group of local citizens concerned about water quality,” said Ann Olsen, spokesperson for FOLKs. “We helped get a deep well at Cudjoe Regional, and we are happy to have this settlement with Marathon to stop its use of shallow sewage wells. Our efforts to encourage Marathon to stop using the shallow sewage wells include agreeing to forego the civil penalties provided for under the Clean Water Act, which could amount to over a million dollars.”