County inspects Pahokee 'plume'
Bacterial blob in water came from raw sewage; officials seeking source.
A bluish plume
PAHOKEE — spreading along the surface of Lake Okeechobee alarmed Pahokee residents when it first appeared at the city’s marina this summer.
The bacteria-laden blob, floating around a boat slip near the marina’s boardwalk, caught the attention of longtime resident Sam McKinstry, who began questioning city and county officials about it.
According to McKinstry, the city’s marina has a raw sewage problem that dates back a decade. City officials, he says, have done little to fix it.
“Anyone who has lived on a vessel at that marina since 2008 has been disposing their waste into the marina,” he said. “There’s no doubt about it. There’s been no electrical into the marina because all the wires have been stolen.”
City officials did not return calls requesting comment.
Palm Beach County Mayor Melissa McKinlay agrees that raw sewage likely caused the plume at the marina, but she disputes that it’s been an ongoing problem there.
“I think we have an isolated issue,” she said.
The county isn’t ignoring it, though. After receiving a complaint earlier this summer about possible contamination at the marina, McKinlay sent a crew
from the county’s water utilities department to investigate. The department supplies water and sewer services to the city.
Crews were dispatched to the area July 3 to inspect the county’s wastewater collection system.
They determined there was no spill from a county facility, pipe, lift station or manhole, spokesperson Shawn Reed said. They also found the blue-tinted plume, and took a sample for testing.
Results revealed a significant amount of fecal coliform bacteria in the water, indicating the presence of raw sewage.
How the sewage got there has yet to be determined — theories include wastewater discharges from boats docked at the marina — but efforts have begun to identify the source of the bacteria.
To date, the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County has not issued a health advisory in that area, spokesperson Tim O’Connor said.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which monitors the state’s water quality, is working with the city and county to gather more information.
The DEP was notified Aug. 10 about water quality concerns at Pahokee marina — the city vacuumed the affected area after the county tested it — and will be gathering water quality data and performing another site inspection during the next few weeks, DEP spokesperson Jill Margolius said.
The agency also is working with the city to finalize a Clean Vessel Grant application. If approved, that money would go to repair sections of the pumpout systems at the marina.
The pumpout system at the northern end of the marina is not functioning, and that part of the marina is permanently closed, city manager Chandler Williamson said in an Aug. 3 email to McKinlay. That part of the marina suffered “severe and decimating” damage in 2005, 2006 and 2007, Williamson added. No boats are docked there.
The southern end of the marina has operable docks and a pumpout system, but repairs also are needed, Williamson said.
The city applied for a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant eight years ago to repair the docks and systems at the northern end of the marina, but has yet to receive the $779,000 that was allocated, Williamson said. The city has submitted several letters of appeal.
Ultimately, Williamson said in the email, he hopes the entire marina will be open for business once funding comes through for repairs.
“We anticipate in the future that we will have a fully operable marina for all 120 boat slips verses the 35 to 40 slips currently,” Williamson said.