North Port incident linked to ‘extreme weather’
In separate incidents last week, the City of North Port reported spilling nearly 1.5 million gallons of treated wastewater, which affected Big Slough Canal, while the City of Venice informed the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) that it had lost an undetermined amount of raw sewage because of a force main break on East Venice Avenue.
In regard to the North Port incident: North Port staff noted that city ponds are used to hold treated wastewater when the treatment plant is experiencing too much flow. However, the report continued, about 11 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22, as the city was dealing with what staff cited as “extreme weather,” those ponds started overflowing.
City staff estimated that the volume of the spill was 1,473,000 gallons, according to the report sent to FDEP. None of that was recovered, the report pointed out.
The flow ceased just after midnight, in the very early hours of Aug. 23, the report indicated.
A Sarasota News Leader check of rainfall on the Sarasota County Water Atlasfound that, over the seven-day period through 11 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 26, 6.77 inches of rainfall had been recorded by a county gauge just east of Pan American Boulevard. North Port’s wastewater treatment facility is located at 5355 Pan American Blvd.
The tidal portion of Big Slough Canal was affected, the report noted, though it also said that no clean-up action was necessary.
The Venice incident, which began at 10:45 p.m. on Aug. 23, occurred at 501 E. Venice Ave. city staff informed FDEP.
A vacuum truck and cleanup crews were “promptly dispatched,” the report continued; the discharge ceased by 1:45 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 24. The raw sewage flowed into a nearby stormwater channel, the report indicated. That stormwater eventually reaches Hatchet Creek, the report explained.
The site was vacuumed, limed and hosed down, the report added, and signs were posted, notifying the public of the spill.
“Sampling of Hatchet Creek has commenced,” the report continued. Samples were being collected at one upstream site, one downstream location and “at closest discharge site,” the report said.
The Environmental Protection Agency explains, “Force mains are pipelines that convey wastewater under pressure from the discharge side of a pump or pneumatic ejector to a discharge point. Pumps or compressors located in a lift station provide the energy for wastewater conveyance in force mains.”