The Silver Springs theme park just outside Ocala, Fla., is famous for glass-bottom boat tours and floral displays, but as of late Marion County commissioners are most concerned with the parking lot.

During a July 31 meeting, the county commissioners said they plan to send a resolution to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) expressing concern that parking lot runoff--and the oil and chemicals it contains--could be polluting the springs.

The Silver Springs pump out approximately 550 million gallons of water a day; this water feeds into the Silver and Ocklawaha rivers. Silver Springs is state-owned land that the theme park leases.

Commission chairman Stan McClain said a constituent brought the runoff pollution concerns to his attention and that he then took that information to his colleagues. Several months ago the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) objected to the springs protection ordinance that the commission adopted last spring. The DCA called the ordinance too vague, and the two sides headed to mediation. Now the commissioners plan to pen the new resolution.

McClain said the pending letter to DEP about the parking lot is not meant to wrangle with the state. "If we're going to protect the springs, then everybody has to participate," he said. "How much does this add to it? I don't know. But every little bit helps."

Silver Springs spokesman Steve Specht gave a tour of the side-by-side parking lots for Wild Waters and Silver Springs, noting that people have many misconceptions regarding the area's drainage system.

There is a drain to the east end of Silver Springs' main parking lot. It is a short distance from the Silver River, and a row of trees separates the two. According to Specht, underground pipes run water from the drain back to the west to a canal that runs north to south down the parking lot.

Before the water flows east through an other filtering canal, it is filtered through the first canal in a manner similar to that of retention ponds. The water then flows over a small dam and into an underground pipe linked to the river, Specht said.

He added that the St. Johns River Water Management District and Marion County officials approved the system design in 1994 and that agencies such as DEP and the U.S. Geologicla Survey perform water quality tests at the springs regularly.

Marion County Storm Water Engineer Tracy Straub said the county's concern is that the system might fall short of today's treatment standards. She said that although county staff and DEP representatives from Tallahassee have discussed the issue before, this is the first time the commission has officially voiced its concerns to the state.

The pesticides, grease, oil and other chemicals that storm water runoff carries into the springs has long been a concern for local environmentalists. One such environmentalist, Guy Marwick, said a huge part of the problem is the "monster pipe" running along roads just east of the Silver Springs property. The pipe, said Marwick, dumps untreated runoff into Half Mile Creek, a Silver River tributary.

Marion County and Ocala officials plan to collaborate with state agencies and create two new retention ponds along the route and expand an existing one to treat runoff before it reaches the creek.

City Engineer Bruce Phillips said the city of Ocala has purchased property to excavate a new seven-acre pond and plans to expand the existing Department of Transportation pond on Rte. 40. Straub said the county plans to excavate a new pond on property it owns near the spot where a 52-in. wide pipe mouth releases runoff into Half Mile Creek. Phillips and Straub said that permit applications for both new ponds have been submitted to the St. Johns River Water Management District.

Source: ocala.com