Mistake blamed for sewage in bayou

ST. PETERSBURG -- Bad judgment by a subcontractor caused untreated sewage to gush from manholes between 26th and 27th avenues S Thursday, sending up to 200,000 gallons of the sewage into a drainage canal and Clam Bayou, home to an environmental preserve, city officials say.

"It shouldn't have happened," said city services administrator Lee Metzger, who oversees city utilities. "It was a careless mistake on their part."

The contractor may face a fine of $10,000, said Lane Longley, the city's wastewater collection manager. City crews flushed and disinfected gutters near the manholes that overflowed, Longley said, and vacuumed up standing sewage that had not flowed into drainage canals and Maggiore Creek.

On Monday afternoon, an oily sheen remained on the surface of a drainage canal along 38th Street. Cardboard signs read, "Warning: Do not play, swim or fish in this area."

Tests of water samples taken from the area Thursday and Friday showed fecal coliform bacteria "too numerous to count," Longley said. He said trying to pump spilled sewage out of bodies of water could have caused more environmental damage than leaving it.

No fish kill was reported.

The spill happened about 11:20 a.m. Thursday.

Subcontractor Equitas Sewer Services LLC of Orlando was cleaning and inspecting a 48-inch sewer line to prepare it to be relined, Longley said. The lining company, Insituform Technologies, was in charge of Equitas.

Calls to Equitas in Orlando were not returned Monday.

Bob Boyer, the regional representative for Insituform, said the city is right that Equitas' mistake caused the spill, but that it appears to be an isolated one.

"This is the first reportable spill working with us that they've ever had," he said.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright