ECUA Sewage Spills: 307,000 Gallons Into A Swamp; 8,000 Gallons Into A Stream

February 15, 2020

The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority had a 307,000 gallon sewage spill into a swamp and a seperate spill that resulted in 8,000 gallons of raw sewage into a stream, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

307,000 Gallon Spill

An estimated 307,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled into a swampy area near Boiling Brook Circle. ECUA responded to a sewer odor complaint in the 200 block of Boiling Brook Circle. When they arrived on scene, they found sewer smell was coming from a remote swampy area north the address, between the address and I-10.

Once they were able to get into the swampy area to assess they situation, they discovered a damaged sewer main and an overflowing manhole. Crews were able to successfully stop the sewage flow by plugging the manhole at the south end of Coronet Drive and installing a holding tank.

The damaged main is being repaired by an approved contractor, and bacterial monitoring was initiated.

In accordance with standard operating procedure, the ECUA notified the State Warning Point, the Escambia County Health Department and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

8,000 Gallon Spill

On Friday a contractored bored through a sewer force main at 1876 East Nine Mile Road, near University Parkway. Approximately 8,000 gallons of raw sewage entered a nearby stream, according to a FDEP report.

Crews cleaned up the remaining spill and applied biocide to the area.

Comments

6 Responses to “ECUA Sewage Spills: 307,000 Gallons Into A Swamp; 8,000 Gallons Into A Stream”

  1. Random observer on February 16th, 2020 10:45 pm

    It looks like @ The Brown Water Magician assumed force main. It might be a gravity line – that seems possible since the swampy area appears to be a tributary to Carpenter Creek. There should be enough drop following along the creek for the turds to tumble happily…

  2. Earl on February 16th, 2020 3:35 pm

    @ The Brown Water Magician …..OR ..OR ..OR.. is why your are not doing that job anymore…know that for a fact..no OR…FLA is high when pumping not AMPs running dry….hope you are doing better on your new job

  3. Anne on February 16th, 2020 8:51 am

    We drove past the “Old Poop Plant” on Main Street, downtown Pensacola, the other day after a rain and were greeted with a Very Familiar Smell of the waste that’s leaked for decades into that ground near the ball park.
    Seems for many years the infrastructure has been deteriorating and not much has been done to fix things.
    These latest spills tell us that there are too many Chiefs at the top and not enough folks doing the tough hands-on job of keeping things moving and safe for us all.

  4. deucedropper on February 15th, 2020 7:00 pm

    A crappy situation for all involved…

  5. northend resident on February 15th, 2020 6:59 pm

    This is very concerning that this has happened. :(

    It’s also situations like this that makes me so frustrated and angry every time the gov’t purposes bills for mandatory annual septic tank inspections and clean outs, because they are supposedly the #1 reason for environmental contamination to our water ways.

    How quickly they forget about all the many years of sewage spills into our waterways actually being the #1 reason!

  6. The Brown Water Magician on February 15th, 2020 6:32 pm

    It is suprising that the lift stations closest to the swamp did not provide indication to this broken force main. I know it is common practice at ECUA for these lift stations to be checked weekly.
    It had been my experience that when centrifugal pumps lose their head pressure (due to either a broken stand pipe or force main) that they would pull too many amps, trip their circuit breakers, and then the SCADA at the lift station would alarm and report to a control room at Ellyson Field which is manned 24/7.

    OR, if there was enough head pressure and the pump breakers at the station BEFORE the force main break did not trip, then the Run Times at the lift station AFTER the force main break should have been down significantly, therefore indicating a problem, and the Control Room Operator should have noticed and dispatched a Lift Station Technician to investigate.

    At least that’s how it’s supposed to work anyway. Been there, done that for over 15 years back in the day.

    Out!