Longboat Key says 11M gallons of sewage spilled into bay. State says penalties are coming

The town of Longboat Key this week released a consultant’s report that found 11 million gallons of sewage had been spilled from a broken line in late June.. That’s down from an initial estimate of 26 million gallons and a later estimate of 17 million gallons.

Whatever the amount, Florida environmental regulators are preparing to penalize the town for what happened.

Authors of the report, with Berley Research Group, took into account the length of time the spill was occurring and a detailed examination of the “irregular” holes in the town’s force main sewage line that runs underneath Sarastoa Bay to a Manatee County wastewater facility.

Researchers found that the holes in the pipe appeared directly over a tree root. Since the root was pressed up against the holes, it is being credited with preventing a larger spill.

The report does not indicate the cause of the break, but photos of the 40-year-old cast iron line show rust around the edges of the holes. The break was on the mainland, about 300 feet offshore in a group of mangroves.

The leak is believed to have started on the afternoon of June 17 and was not detected until the end of June. It was repaired June 30.

Staff originally believed warnings from Manatee County about low flow rates to the wastewater facility were due to line maintenance. However, after the maintenance was completed, low flow rates continued and it wasn’t until then that staff began looking for a leak.

“Estimates of volume through irregular openings is not an exact science,” the report states. “Therefore, the flows calculated herein should be considered a reasonable estimate subject to modification based on unknown or additional information or materials not considered at the time of the estimate.”

The town had no further comment regarding the report.

Longboat Key did not clean up the spill, instead leaving it to natural processes to dissipate the sewage. Based on testing done by another consultant, town officials said the spill did not cause “any significant water quality concerns.”

In the meantime, Shannon Herbon, spokeswoman for the DEP, said agency officials are working out the final details of the potential penalties.

Hebron said any sanctions are largely related to the town of Longboat Key’s late reporting of the incident and failures to detect the leak for almost two weeks. Herbon said any penalties and/or fines would be handed down before the end of the week.