More than 1.2 million gallons of sewage spilled from a force mainline and more than 800,000 gallons of it made its way into Sarasota Bay, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
In a public notice of pollution released Wednesday, state officials said the spill originated around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday after an excavation contractor working on a project at the intersection of 34th Street West and 60th Avenue West broke a force mainline.
The spill flowed into nearby stormwater drains and into a retention pond.
“A mixture of pond water/wastewater then overflowed from the pond into stormwater piping that eventually flowed into Sarasota Bay,” the state reports.
The lift stations feeding the mainline were shut down and “numerous” tanker and vacuum trucks were deployed, but officials say the leak was not able to be stopped until 6:15 p.m., nearly six hours after the initial break.
The damage was repaired and the system went back online about 10:30 Tuesday night.
Full story here at Bradenton.com
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Map credit: Bradenton Herald