4 million gallons of raw sewage leaks into Pinellas neighborhood

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The rupture of a 24-inch, force main sewer pipe in Pinellas County sent more than 4 million gallons of raw sewage into a neighborhood.

People who live on 53rd Avenue North are frustrated because this is the second time in two years that the line has broken.

“It was maddening, knowing it was two years ago, almost to the day that it happened,” Barry Medlock said.

Some of the sewage flowed into his yard and into his garage.

“Well, when I got home, you could smell it,” Medlock said. “My neighbor brought over a couple of fans, put inside my house to keep the smell down.”

Maya Burke with the Tampa Bay Estuary Program said local governments have invested heavily in infrastructure like this since 2015.

She said at that time, heavy rain from storms sent more than 100 million gallons of untreated sewage into various bodies of water.

She said improvements have been made, but more still needs to be done.

“It’s still not enough,” Burke said. “The works not done, and we need to continue to invest because things like 4 million gallons of wastewater spilled here, 20 million gallons spilled there, that all adds up and that’s not good for the community either.”

She said the raw sewage impacts local waterways.

“These sanitary sewer overflows, raw sewage, contain a lot of bacteria and pathogens and also contain a lot of nutrient pollution,” Burke said. “These things in sufficient quantities can contribute to unsafe swimming conditions, or harmful algae blooms.”

Joyce Drew recently moved on to the street where the pipe burst.

She said she did not know it had broken two years before she moved in, but she soon learned there was a problem.

“After we moved in, we were working the garden, and we were like, why do we smell sewage,” Drew said. “It turns out this thing, is some type of release valve for the fumes of the sewage going up the road.”

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