I-TEAM: 90,000 gallons of raw sewage overflows into Pottsburg Creek

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – State regulators and inspectors astatine Jacksonville’s inferior institution are investigating a stinky concern that could beryllium an biology hazard to section waterways.

Approximately 90,000 gallons of earthy sewage overflowed into Pottsburg Creek successful Jacksonville’s Grove Park Neighborhood, according to a study JEA filed with Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection.

Pottsburg Creek is simply a waterway that runs straight into the St. Johns River.

Video from the Sky4 Drone appears to amusement immoderate of the leakage into the creek, which is simply a fashionable boating and sportfishing destination.

JEA said a pump astatine a determination wastewater tract failed Sunday day arsenic contractors were moving connected them. The overflow incident, according to the report, lasted from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The Holiday Road assistance presumption is wherever wastewater, including sewage from toilets, goes earlier hitting 1 of JEA’s attraction centers.

The I-TEAM went to the country aft obtaining the study from DEP. The vicinity adjacent the leak had a stench of feces. A gait motion adjacent to the roadworthy notified neighbors of a sewage overflow, urging them to debar fishing, swimming successful oregon drinking the water.

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News4JAX flew the Sky4 drone implicit the country and noticed brown, cloudy water. Neighbors, who didn’t cognize what had happened, said it’s not a pleasant show oregon scent.

“It’s a surprise,” said nonmigratory Mike Best, who lives nearby. “Definitely don’t privation sewage successful our waterways.”

JEA managers told the I-TEAM contractors were doing renovations connected this sewage station, putting successful caller pipes and valves arsenic good arsenic odor power and an exigency generator. They were inactive investigating what happened to origin the overflow. They said respective contractors were progressive and they weren’t definite who, if any, was astatine fault.

News4JAX has requested the names of the contracting companies from JEA.

“The nonaccomplishment occurred with the bypass strategy - which helps the assistance presumption with operations - during a operation task designed to amended the system,” JEA’s media relations manager Karen McCallister said. “The impacted crushed country was remediated, and hydrated lime was applied to the affected ungraded to termination bacteria and trim odors.”

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She said arsenic the probe and remediation continued, the tract was backmost up and moving arsenic normal.

“JEA began taking samples of the impacted h2o country contiguous (Jan. 17),” she wrote. “First results are expected precocious greeting connected Jan. 18. JEA notified authorities regulatory agencies connected Jan. 16 and placed sanitary sewer overflow signs successful the vicinity of the merchandise advising residents against swimming, sportfishing oregon drinking from adjacent bodies of water.”

“There needs to beryllium much oversight,” Best said.

He is upset astir the situation, particularly due to the fact that successful the summertime of 2021, helium helped the I-TEAM uncover contractors pumping soiled h2o into the creek conscionable blocks away. They were utilizing a portion of backstage spot on the waterway to swap ungraded for a operation tract erstwhile Best utilized his drone to observe milky h2o being pumped into the creek.

DEP investigators recovered the enactment was unpermitted and perchance hazardous.

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“This is adjacent worse I think,” Best said. “This is earthy sewage. Whereas implicit determination it was conscionable soiled water.”

Jacksonville City Council subordinate Kevin Carrico, who represents the area, told the I-TEAM helium would enactment to find retired what happened.

“I americium upset to perceive astir yet different interaction connected Pottsburg Creek yesterday. I’m moving with JEA officials to fig retired what happened and what’s going to beryllium done astir it. Pottsburg is simply a hidden gem present connected the Southside and I’ll bash everything I tin to sphere and support it,” Carrico said successful a connection to News4JAX.

In 2016, News4JAX reported that 1.1 cardinal gallons of sewage overflowed into Pottsburg Creek during and aft Hurricane Matthew came done the area.

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