Developers cited for muck in New River

Developers at five downtown properties were cited with warnings Thursday for allowing dirty runoff to reach storm drains, as officials investigate a murky plume of gray in the New River.

The milky cloud appeared in recent days in the heart of downtown, mostly between Andrews and Third avenues, residents said. The downtown is busy with construction cranes, as contractors add high-rises to the skyline.

City and county officials checked construction sites on Wednesday and Thursday to find out where the pollution came from. Whether any of the cited contractors caused the river plume is unknown, but they were not properly handling

the water runoff at their construction sites, city officials said.

“We all know how delicate our waterways are with all the sewage and algae,” downtown condo resident Bobbi Ocean said, “so to have this type of blatant pollution being dumped in our river is beyond disappointing and concerning.”

Fort Lauderdale spokesman Chaz Adams said contractors were cited at the following development addresses for not properly protecting the catch basins that collect runoff at the construction sites, “causing runoff to go directly into the city’s storm water system:”

■ 212 SE Second Ave., Stiles Construction

■ 100 E. Las Olas Blvd., Kast Construction

■ 330 SW First Ave., Moriarty Construction

■ 4 W. Las Olas Blvd., Moss Construction.

The city also gave a warning to Kast Construction at 116 S. Federal Highway, for not properly filtering a continuous flow of runoff there.

County environmental officials also were involved in sleuthing out the mystery.

Sermin Turegun, director of the county’s environmental engineering and permitting division, said her employees went out to try to locate the source of the pollution and to educate developers. They also were in contact with the state about it.

Developers can discharge water if it’s clear, said Carlos Adorisio, engineering unit supervisor in the county’s environmental department. But the dirt, sand and mud that polluted the New River violated standards for how cloudy the water can be, he said.

The cloudiness doesn’t pose a health hazard to humans, Adams said. But it blocks light from penetrating the water, a concern for aquatic life.

“We sometimes see manatees in the river,” downtown resident Ocean said, “and to think of them swimming in that is pretty disgusting.”

Anyone with information on pollution incidents in the river is asked to call the county’s 24-hour complaint hotline at 954-519-1499.

“To think of them [manatees] swimming in that is pretty disgusting.” Bobbi Ocean, resident