The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is pursuing strict enforcement for all sanitary sewer overflows and unauthorized reclaimed water discharges for all utilities in Florida. As a result, the City has been provided a Consent Agreement OGC Case No. 22-1794 by the FDEP. The agreement has been negotiated over the past year with City staff and outside legal counsel. City staff engaged Lewis, Longman and Walker, an outside legal firm to represent the City in this enforcement action. The FDEP finds that City of Cape Coral had 39 unauthorized sanitary sewer overflows of approximately 1,402,077 gallons. There are no actions required to correct the violations. The FDEP is seeking $55,572.32 in civil penalties and $500 for costs and expenses the FDEP has incurred investigating this matter.
None of the sanitary sewer overflows or reclaimed water discharges were a result of employee negligence. Sanitary sewer overflows can result from equipment or power failures, tree roots, pipe sections can shift, vehicular accidents, contractors hitting our lines and in most cases are impossible to predict or prevent. Approximately 79% of the gallons discharged in the Consent Agreement were exclusive to reclaimed water, and City staff recovered approximately 100% of the raw wastewater discharged. A detailed spreadsheet of each discharge event is provided in the agenda packet.
City staff goes above and beyond to prevent sanitary sewer overflows. We spend close to $1M per year replacing aging wastewater lift station pumps, sending robotic cameras to inspect wastewater mains and we perform preventative maintenance.
City staff has elected to pursue an in-kind project to satisfy the civil penalties outlined in the agreement. The in-kind project is to replace an aging aerial wastewater forcemain crossing located on Del Prado Blvd between SE 40th Street and SE 40th Terrace that traverses over the Plato Canal. The wastewater forcemain will be relocated to the center median as the current forcemain support structure has been damaged by passing boats. The current aging forcemain and support structure will be removed to allow for unobstructed navigation under the Del Prado/Plato Canal bridge. The Engineer's Opinion of Probable Construction Cost is $1,689,129.00 which will fully satisfy the FDEP penalties. This project will be brought to City Council at a later date.
Mr. Fred Aschauer will be available for any questions that Council Members may have during the Council meeting.