The city of Tallahassee received an $18,000 fine last month from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection after substantial amounts of sewage spilled into the streets between July 1, 2023, and Dec. 1, 2023, according to a letter to the city from the state.
This is the second fine DEP has issued the city, incurring a total of almost $45,000 in fines, for incidents that led to more than 1.3 million gallons of sewage spewing out of the system last year. That’s roughly the volume of two Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Most of the fine was attributed to a main break along a central thoroughfare in October 2023 that sent roughly 970,000 gallons of sewage into the lanes of Capital Circle Northeast between Automotive Way and Mahan Drive — the largest spill since June 2016, when 1 million gallons spilled during a power outage.
While the city is no stranger to fines, Terry Ryan, co-founder of the Tallahassee Sewage and Wakulla Basin Advocacy Group, said this is the first time the city has been fined and not been allowed to start a project in place of paying the fine.
DEP allows municipalities to submit an in-kind project proposal that must cost at least one and a half times the penalty, which was an option provided to the city of Tallahassee at the beginning of last September when DEP fined the city with $26,750 for incidents between Jan. 1, 2023, and June 30, 2023.
In a statement provided to the Tallahassee Democrat, Dave Roberts, Assistant General Manager of Underground Utility & Public Infrastructure (UUPI) for the city, said: “Since 2008, the City’s wastewater system has achieved a 90% decrease in sewer spills and dedicates ample resources to ensure the continued effective management, operation, and proactive maintenance of this vital infrastructure and compliance with regulatory standards, thus making the system one of the best performing wastewater systems in the state.”
“In fact, staff is frequently called upon by other communities around the country to provide aid and support during their times of need. The City’s Underground Utility & Public Infrastructure department manages approximately 17 million gallons of sewage daily through a growing network comprised of 940 miles of gravity mains, 143 miles of force mains, and 114 pump stations.
“Over the last five years, the City has invested more than $55 million in the gravity sewer rehabilitation program utilizing pipe lining replacements or upgrades, point repairs, and sewer manhole coatings or replacements. UUPI continues its robust sewer rehabilitation program by allocating approximately $15 million annually to this program.”
‘Transparency is tremendously lacking’ from the city
Ryan’s organization tracks spills and activity between the city and the FDEP. He said the total amount of sewage spilled last year was the fifth largest in the last 24 years.
“The transparency is tremendously lacking between the city of Tallahassee and citizens here locally,” he said. “They do not provide transparency on the enforcement of consent orders, on sewage spills, contaminated sites around town.”
Moreover, “the number of spills is much lower than it was back in 2008, but the volume just keeps on going up. The city continues to deny they have a problem,” he added.
Between 2008 and 2018, 11 million gallons of untreated sewage spilled into city streets, culverts, ditches, ponds and parking lots. In 2011, the city entered into a consent order with the DEP, which included penalties for “untimely corrective action” when sanitary sewers overflow.
The voluntary agreement supervised by a court came after an increase in unauthorized spills from the wastewater system in 2007, 2008 and 2009. It requires the city to continually analyze the system, make repairs and take other action to improve the system’s function.
Breaking & trending news reporter Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa.