South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Third rupture found in sewer main
It appears there is a third leak in the sewer main that’s been spilling sewage in the city’s Rio Vista neighborhood.
Saturday morning, crews were called to check out a leak in a 48-inch sewer main in the Himmarshee Canal, in the vicinity of Southeast Second Street and Ninth Avenue. The pipe is part of the larger 54-inch main that’s leaked in two other places.
City spokeswoman Shannon Vezina said divers will investigate the latest rupture and complete the repair, adding that the newest leak is not impacting properties on land.
It is, however, another setback for the city and its workers, who had stopped nine days of flowing sewage in the city’s Rio Vista neighborhood Wednesday, only to have a new break in the same sewer pipe rupture Friday.
Friday’s early morning break happened near Virginia Young Park, 1000 SE Ninth Ave.
The location is just north of the Tarpon River and involves the same pipe that burst Dec. 10, a spill that sent millions of gallons of raw sewage into the river and surrounding Rio Vista neighborhood.
Earlier this week, an above-ground bypass pipe was attached and activated in order to bypass the broken 54-inch main.
Well before dawn Friday, on the south side of the Tarpon River, crews had finished replacing the broken portion of the pipe when another break occurred a block away across the river, said Chaz Adams, a spokesman for the city.
“They were deactivating the bypass line and putting the flow back to the original 54-inch line when another break occurred just north of the Tarpon River near Virginia Young Park,” Adams said.
As emergency crews worked to contain Friday’s break, other workers were going door-do-door to let residents know what was happening.
“We just can’t catch our breath here,” Mayor Dean Trantalis said of the sewerpipe breaks.
By nightfall Friday, city crews had stabilized the pit around the break area and sewage was no longer flowing into the streets, Adams said. The crews were in the process of creating a new bypass pipe, one that would extend from the south side of the river near the first break, to past the new break on the north side, he said.
Tim Hamilton, who lives near the intersection of South Rio Vista Boulevard and Southeast Ninth Avenue, said his family was woken up about 3 a.m., when repair crews started working on the latest break. “We can smell it,” he said. “It’s not really bad right now, but it depends on the wind, which way it’s blowing.”
“Nobody planned for this to happen,” he said. “I feel bad for the city crews that are out here to fix it. It’s really appreciated.”
Trantalis said city crews were able to get a quick jump on dealing with the new break because so much equipment is still in the vicinity from the first one.
“Fortunately, we have the pump trucks that were in the area, so we don’t have to delay in retrieving those,” Trantalis said.
The city will also benefit from the Texas pipe manufacturer already having information from the earlier break when constructing the new pipes that will be needed, he said.
“We should be able to repair this in a much shorter period of time and minimize the impact to the community,” the mayor said. City officials still have not said how much sewage poured out into the neighborhood and the Tarpon River from the first spill.
They said nearly 140 homes in a four-block area have been affected by the two breaks.
Streets in the immediate vicinity of Virginia Young Park are closed, and motorists are being asked to avoid the area and use alternate routes.
City officials said that because this break involves a sewer line it does not affect drinking water and there is no boil-water advisory in effect. However, people should stay clear of any standing water from the break.
On Saturday, city officials said the pit around the break area remains stable with no spillage entering the streets while work continued on assembling a 36-inch bypass line that will run from Hector Park over the Southeast Ninth Avenue bridge and connect to the 54-inch pipe just north of Southeast Ninth Street.
It’s not known yet how Saturday’s leak will impact those plans.
However, forecasts of heavy rain through the weekend will have stormwater staff on site monitoring tidal valves, storm drains, and catch basins to address potential flooding issues. Additional vacuum trucks will be ready to respond if needed, the city said.
Meanwhile, CBI was set to start sludge removal and cleaning work Saturday on the east side of Virginia Young Park and continue eastward along South Rio Vista Boulevard and the park will remain closed while repair activities are taking place.
Also, a water advisory remains in effect for the Tarpon River, New River and other waterways in the area. People have been told to avoid swimming, jet-skiing, paddle-boarding, kayaking, canoeing and other waterrelated activities. The area extends generally from Broward Boulevard south to Southeast 15th Street, and from Southwest 18th Avenue east to Poinciana Drive.
The commission in January 2018 approved borrowing $200 million for sewer and water repairs. Officials said the 54-inch sewer main in Rio Vista had been identified as far back as 2010 as needing replacement.