100k gallons of sewage spills from pipe in Charlotte County community

Reporter: Stephanie Byrne Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published: Updated:
Wastewater in the front yard of a home on Rampart Boulevard.

On Sunday, one hundred thousand gallons of sewage spilled in a Charlotte County neighborhood. It resulted from a wastewater force main break along Rampart Boulevard in Deep Creek.

Charlotte County Utilities say crews found a nine-foot crack in the pipe. While they say they’ve collected most of the wastewater, 20,000 gallons entered a nearby drainage canal.

On Tuesday, remnants of the spill were still evident in the form of orange tape, lime bags, and a dug-up yard.

David Dreyer of Deep Creek said, “I’m trying to find out what exactly happened here.”

Dreyer checked things out for himself Tuesday morning. He was curious and concerned.

Jennifer Hecker, the Coastal and Heartland National Estuary Partnership executive director, is also concerned. “We are concerned about any contributions of nutrient pollution or bacteria pollution because that is a common water quality problem in our area.”

Hecker said as infrastructure ages in Southwest Florida, cities and counties try to upgrade their systems, and accidents can happen.

“So we want to make sure to control this type of pollution, and we are very appreciative of our counties and cities who are taking this job on and trying to upgrade these systems to reduce that type of pollution,” said Hecker.

After the spill, Charlotte County staff collected water samples and sent them for testing.

Charlotte County Utilities said it is installing a new, larger, force main where the break occurred as part of a larger project in the area.

The county said it expects to have the new line in operation by spring of this year.

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