Sewage leak spurs advisory to avoid canal water in Pompano Beach

Pompano Beach is warning residents in a large swath of the city to avoid swimming or fishing in a canal or using the water to irrigate properties after a sewage pipe was broken Friday afternoon.

Drinking water is safe to drink, cook with or bathe in, city spokeswoman Sandra King said Monday.

The areas affected by the tainted canal begin at the Garden Isles neighborhood, between Northwest 15th Street and West Atlantic Boulevard, and span from Interstate 95 east to the Intracoastal Waterway, King said.

About 2:30 p.m. Friday, a contractor with the Florida Department of Transportation broke a 42-inch pressurized sewage pipe near Northwest 15th Street and Interstate 95, FDOT and the city said.

The construction accident happened about 17 feet below the street that was being dug up so that fiber optic cable could be installed, FDOT said.

The canal is on the east side of the intersection and flows parallel to I-95. Once the canal reaches West Atlantic Boulevard, it flows east along the boulevard. At South Cypress Road, the canal flows to the southeast, eventually reaching Lake Santa Barbara and the Intracoastal Waterway.

FDOT, Pompano Beach, the Broward County Environmental Protection and Growth Management, Broward County Health and the South Florida Water Management District are working together to fix the situation, King said.

The effort to contain the sewage has been happening “day and night,” King said. City officials could not yet estimate how much sewage has flowed from the busted pipe, and neither could FDOT.

FDOT said several turbidity barriers, or floating curtains, were placed in the canal to capture floating debris and sediment.

Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church’s property is on the east side of the canal.

“The smell was noticeable on Saturday,” Nicola Martin, business administrator for the church, said on Monday afternoon. “It was bad and I could smell it inside the building.”

Martin said the odor wasn’t noticeable Sunday, when there can be up to 1,000 people attending services.

“I haven’t been back outside since I got here this morning,” Martin said. “We saw the water that they were pumping on Friday. All I have to do is go to the west end of the property and you can see the water. I stayed away.”

She said a block of Northwest 15th Street beneath the I-95 overpass was closed for eastbound traffic while construction work was happening.

Pompano Beach residents may call customer service at 954-786-4637 with any questions, King said.