Fort Lauderdale's busted pipes spilled 211.6 million gallons of sewage on waterways and roads
DU thread from last week: (Failing) Infrastructure Week In South Florida: Residents Face "Sewage Spill Whack-A-Mole"
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Source: Sun-Sentinel
Fort Lauderdale’s busted pipes spilled 211.6 million gallons of sewage on waterways and roads
By SUSANNAH BRYAN
SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL |
FEB 17, 2020 | 9:42 AM
| FORT LAUDERDALE
A gut-wrenching amount of toxic sewage spilled into Fort Lauderdale waterways in the past few months alone: 211.6 million gallons.
That’s enough to fill 320 Olympic-sized pools and scare even the most die-hard kayakers from getting into the water for awhile.
Fort Lauderdale fisherman Jeff Maggio hasn’t been to George English Park since sewage began spewing out of a pipe buried underwater on Jan. 30.
“All the fish are dead there,” he said Sunday. “Everything’s just gone. Crabs, oysters, barnacles and plankton. Crews have been out there picking up hundreds of fish out of the water so it doesn’t look like holy hell. Manatees are swimming in that poison.”
Mayor Dean Trantalis called news of the pollution caused by the city’s own pipes devastating.
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Read more: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-ne-sewage-spilled-fort-lauderdale-20200216-xpvarmizdvco7lldkirunu2zga-story.html
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Source: Associated Press
211m gallons of sewage spilled into Fort Lauderdale waterways, officials say
Associated Press
Mon 17 Feb 2020 13.54 GMT
Fort Lauderdale officials say 211.6m gallons of sewage has spilled into Fort Lauderdale waterways in the past few months.
The Sun-Sentinel reports that’s enough to fill 320 Olympic-sized pools.
The city’s aging sewer pipes broke six times in December and spewed 126.9m gallons of sewage – ranking as one of South Florida’s biggest spills ever. The spills fouled the Tarpon River, the Himmarshee Canal and streets in three neighborhoods.
According to what officials told the state Department of Environmental Protection, 79.3m gallons spilled into George English Lake over a 10-day period that began 30 January and ended 8 February. Then an additional 5.4m gallons flooded streets near park right across from a popular mall.
In recent weeks, crews also have rushed to fix another string of water main breaks, forcing the city to warn residents to boil their tap water before drinking, brushing their teeth or washing dishes.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/17/florida-fort-lauderdale-waterways-sewage-spilled
