State seeks $242,000 over Longboat sewage spill

Longboat Key leaders began privately discussing on Wednesday a proposed state consent order delivered a day earlier, seeking more than $240,000 in civil penalties and costs connected to Longboat Key's June sewage line break and spill. 

Penalties from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's amount to $241,652.50 and $1,000 for costs incurred by the department in the course of its investigation. The figures were included in a letter from FDEP Southwest District Director Mary Yeargan  to Town Manager Tom Harmer on Tuesday.

“None of your rights or substantial interests are determined by the Consent Order until it is signed and filed with the Department,” Yeargan wrote.

On Wednesday afternoon, town commissioners held a private meeting with their legal counsel to try to determine the best course of action. Harmer, Town Attorney Maggie Mooney, the commission, attorney Ed Steinmeyer and attorney John “Jack” Fiveash attended the private virtual meeting.

Commissioners voted 6-0 on Wednesday to schedule a second private meeting with their legal counsel for 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 19. The town must decide a course of action by Oct. 23. Commissioner BJ Bishop was absent. 

The FDEP is also requesting the town make several corrective actions. It includes submitting a Sewer Overflow Response Plan; purchasing 0.30 saltwater forested medication credits from Nature Coast Mitigation Bank to offset impacts; providing documentation of the credits; submitting a correction action plan; completing an environmental resource permit application; submitting a mangrove alteration permit application; submitting an analysis of its collection system infrastructure; submitting an Environmental Protection Agency Capacity, Management Operations and Maintenance analysis for approval; and submitting a report each quarter about the progress of the projects being completed.

Instead of paying $241,652, Yeargan’s letter states the town can choose to offset the amount by implementing an in-kind penalty project, subject to FDEP approval.

An in-kind project must be either an environmental enhancement, environmental restoration or a capital/facility improvement project. The department may also consider the donation of environmentally sensitive land as an in-kind project.

The FDEP stated the value of the in-kind penalty project would need to be one and a half times the civil penalty, which in this case is the equivalent of at least $362,478.75. The town would need to notify the FDEP within 15 days if it chooses to pursue the in-kind penalty project.

The town is still in the process of advancing its redundant pipe project, which has an estimated cost of $16 million.

A preliminary report conducted by Berkeley Research Group found about 11 million gallons spilled during a sewage break from June 17-30. BRG is also expected to provide a report to the town on the cause of the leak. FDEP estimated the leak at 17 million gallons. 

On June 29, town officials reported to state regulators about the untreated sewage that spilled from the 22-square-inch break. The pipe was built in 1973, inspected in 2015-16 and given years of estimated life remaining.

The sewage break has already cost the town $242,454.75 as of September.

The pipe is the only one leading from Longboat Key to a Manatee County treatment plant. After collecting sewage from the town's system, smaller pipes converge at a pumping station on Gulf Bay Road. From there, the town's untreated sewage flows through a 20-inch diameter iron pipe under the bed of Sarasota Bay. It terminates at a treatment facility north of Conquistador Parkway in Bradenton.