Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Latest sewage spill adds 20.5M gallons to record
FORT LAUDERDALE – The back-to-back sewage spills that have plagued Fort Lauderdale are the worst on record in Florida history, spewing 211.6 million gallons of raw sewage into waterways and streets.
A three-day spill at George English Park in late February added another 20.52 million gallons to the total, according to a report the city filed with the state Department of Environmental Protection.
“That was another major break,” Mayor Dean Trantalis said Sunday. “And while it was significant, we were able to mitigate the potential outflow because we had equipment on the ground ready to respond to the situation more readily than normally.”
The spill began when a 14-inch pipe installed in 1980 burst on Feb.
24. at George English Park at 1101 Bayview Drive, city officials say. The spill was stopped when a bypass line was put in place three days later.
An earlier spill at George English Park sent 79.3 million gallons into the waterways over a 10-day period that began on Jan. 30 and ended on Feb. 8. Another 5.4 million gallons flooded the streets from that spill.
Fort Lauderdale’s crumbling sewer pipes broke six times in December and spewed 126.9 million gallons of sewage — ranking as one of South Florida’s biggest spills. Toxic sewage gushed into the Tarpon River, the Himmarshee Canal and streets in three neighborhoods: Rio Vista, Victoria Park and Coral Ridge.
“Every day we pray we will not have another break in our system,” Trantalis said. “In the meantime, the contractors are working at a feverish pace to complete this 7.5-mile sewer line.”
City officials initially thought it would take 18 months to complete the work. Now they are hoping it will be done in half that time, Trantalis said.
“We are hoping to have it done by the end of summer 2020 or beginning of fall 2020,” he said.
Fort Lauderdale has been hit with a whopper of a state fine to pay for the sin of its sewage spills. City officials were stunned to learn of the $1.8 million fine in mid-February.
Fort Lauderdale has until the end of March to pay up but has tapped a law firm for $150,000 to help negotiate a new deal.
On March 3, the commission agreed to hire the Lewis Longman & Walker law firm for $150,000 to assist with the fine.
“We are still negotiating with the state to have the fine applied to reconstruction,” Trantalis said. “We are still negotiating that as opposed to payment for a penalty. That works to everyone’s benefit and allows us to continue moving forward quickly to rebuild our infrastructure.”
Trantalis said he was not sure whether the fine would increase if it’s not paid by the March 31 deadline.
“Stay tuned,” “he said. “I believe the state wants to work with our community. And I think in the end they will do the right thing and let us apply the fine toward the rebuilding of our infrastructure.”
The state cracked down on Fort Lauderdale after a series of sewage spills in 2016. In a consent order approved in late 2017, the state laid out $117.5 million in required sewer system repairs and improvements through 2026. The order includes penalties for future sewer pipe breaks, with fines of $10,000 a day for spills of more than 100,000 gallons.
Under the consent order, state officials are fining Fort Lauderdale $341,500 for its recent sewage spills. But they’re tacking on a civil penalty of nearly $1.5 million plus $5,000 in administrative costs.