On Tuesday March 12th, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) issued a “Pollution Notice” relating to the overflow of 50,000 gallons of “untreated domestic wastewater” on Monday afternoon near the intersection of Capital Circle SE and Blair Stone Rd.
According to Pollution Notice, the overflow of wastewater was contained on the 11th, at the T.P. Smithy Water Reclamation Facility, and was then estimated at around 50,000 gallons. The FDEP wrote that the incident was a “result of a backup in the system caused by a mechanical failure of the headworks bypass valve during maintenance activities”.
The Pollution Notice explains City crews have recovered the overflow of wastewater from the facility, and have “cleaned, disinfected, and deodorized impacted soils”. Lastly, the FDEP claims there is no threat to public health stating, “Surface waters were not impacted and there is no threat to public health.”
I witnessed the immediate aftermath of a sewer main rupture years ago at Shamrock and Centerville Road. Blew a 2' hole right through the asphalt with a raw sewage geyser, which flowed NE in the ditches. My point is a systems failure can happen anywhere - nothing is foolproof. 50K gallons does seem like a lot of flow before safety systems kick in and turn off the pumps. There is no utopian infrastructure system - everything mechanical is capable of failure.
Ummm it always smells rank at that intersection. Bigger issue than this at play…
At all the Campaign Debates that I participated in since 2015 I have said, more Preventative Maintenance needs to be scheduled if ANY is being done. Most of the Spills are caused by lack of Maintenance on the Pumps, Motors, Valves, etc.
Nothing to see here just another day in Reese Goad's Tallahassee