Sewage overflows common amid Florida storm
Widespread power outages in hurricane-battered Florida are teaming with structural failures to cause sewage overflows.
Local governments have submitted well over 100 "notices of pollution" to the state Department of Environmental Protection since Hurricane Irma struck, some involving multiple spills and releases of millions of gallons of wastewater in various stages of treatment. The state has warned people to steer clear of standing water.
"Floodwaters may contain not only bacteria from sanitary sewer overflows but other potential contaminants from agricultural or industrial waste," Environmental Protection Department spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller said.
About 6 million gallons of wastewater were released from a plant on Virginia Key near Miami during a power outage overnight Sunday, one of seven spills reported by the Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department. The water had gone through most of the treatment process but hadn’t been chlorinated, spokeswoman Jennifer Messemer-Skold said.
Officials advised people not to swim at Miami-area beaches until waters could be tested for pollutants.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deployed teams to help state officials assess damage to wastewater and drinking water systems.
Wastewater treatment is challenging enough in a state with flat, low-lying terrain and a booming population concentrated largely in coastal cities. Pipes and other infrastructure are aging, and many residents use private septic tanks that are susceptible to flooding. A consultant’s report commissioned by the state found that leaks and overflows resulting from Hurricanes Hermine and Matthew in 2016 totaled about 250 million gallons.
Electricity interruptions during heavy storms often deliver the knockout punch. They shut down "lift stations" pumping wastewater from lower to higher elevations on its way to treatment plants, causing backups that can propel untreated sewage into homes or through manhole covers onto city streets.
As of Wednesday, the Gulf Coast city of St. Petersburg, population 250,000, had reported four spills. The largest, totaling about 430,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater, overflowed from a treatment-plant holding tank Monday.
Other systems reported bigger spills, including 1.1 million gallons of raw and treated sewage from the city of Oviedo and 1.5 million gallons of effluent from a facility in Osceola County.
More than 125 systems in about 40 counties advised residents to boil tap water before using it for drinking or cooking.