Longboat Key faces $241,000 fine for sewage spill. Fixing the problem will cost much more

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection intends to fine the town of Longboat Key more than $240,000 for a sewer line break that spilled 11 million gallons of muck into Sarasota Bay. The town also will have to spend millions more to build a replacement line, according to a proposed consent order.

In June, it took town officials more than two weeks to determine there was a break in its only sewage main line after Manatee County officials detected a potential problem in the flow of sewage to a county treatment plant.. After discovering the line had broken, officials decided to let Mother Nature clean the spill.

Longboat Key officials have not offered an explanation for how the break occurred. An analysis completed using photos of the “irregular holes” in the line indicated that the spill could have been much worse because a tree root was partially blocking the holes.

Photos indicate rust around the holes, but an exact cause has yet to be determined.

The proposed fine and other sanctions are listed in a proposed consent order sent from Florida DEP to Longboat Key officials.

Under the order, if signed, Longboat Key must pay a fine of $241,652 within 30 days of the signed order. DEP is giving the town an option to do an “in-kind project” with a value of $362,478 to offset a direct payment. The project could include the donation of environmentally sensitive lands to the state.

Within 60 days of the signed order, Longboat Key also must purchase a third of an acre of saltwater forested mitigation credits from the Nature Coast Mitigation Bank, “to offset impacts that occurred from the unauthorized activities.”

Town officials say DEP’s consent order will be reviewed Wednesday afternoon.

“At this time it is a proposed order,” said Town Manager Tom Harmer in a prepared statement. “We received this proposed order on Monday and it is under review. Our town attorney has called for an attorney-client session for (Wednesday) afternoon for our environmental counsel to brief the town commission and obtain their direction related to the town’s response to the proposed order.”

The state also is demanding Longboat Key build a replacement for the 40-year-old sewer line, which runs underneath Sarasota Bay to Manatee County’s southwest reclamation facility on the mainland.

Longboat Key officials previously said the town was planning the new line, but they did not have the money needed for the estimated $20 million project. The state is giving the town five years to complete the project.

Longboat Key officials must submit cost estimates for the new line within 60 days of signing the consent order, which due back to the state by Oct. 23. DEP is reserving the right to take further action, including possible criminal prosecution or other litigation, if the town does not respond.

According to the consent order, Florida DEP found that Longboat Key violated at least three state statutes, including, “Failure to maintain equipment and for the unauthorized discharge of wastewater.”

The state also found the town failed to obtain authorization for the alteration of mangroves. The town’s contractor destroyed almost a half-acre of mangroves on the mainland to get to the part of the line that needed repair and did so without notifying DEP.

The third violation is a failure to obtain authorization prior to conducting dredge and fill activities within wetlands.

Within 30 days of the signed order, Longboat Key must plant 872 new mangroves, remove any existing nuisance vegetation, remove the fill used to get equipment to the break and restore the land back to original environmental conditions.

DEP also said the town faces additional fines of up to $15,000 a day for violating the consent order. DEP also set fines of up to $15,000 a day for any further sewage spills from the existing line, depending on the amount of sewage spilled.

Other fines could include $1,000 per day for every corrective and restorative actions set forth by DEP that are not completed within the designated time frames.

According to the proposed consent order, there is no indication the state will hold the town responsible for the discrepancies of when the report was filed compared to when the spill began. Under state law, spills are suppose to be reported within 24 hours of occurring, but it took Longboat Key officials more than two weeks to notify the state.

This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 9:34 AM.