NEWS

Okaloosa still dealing with sewage issues from Hurricane Sally

Tom McLaughlin
Northwest Florida Daily News

FORT WALTON BEACH — Lift stations across South Okaloosa County were overrun by the tremendous volume of rain that fell Tuesday and Wednesday as Hurricane Sally beat down the Emerald Coast.

The county's Water and Sewer Department reported its greatest challenges were encountered in its County West service area, which serves the area west of Mary Esther.

Sewage is pumped out of a lift tation as a crew conducts repair work.

"The large majority of County West’s 26 lift stations which are serviced by

the Russell Stephenson Water Reclamation Facility were overwhelmed

and/or submerged during Sally’s move onshore Sept. 16th," a Water and Sewer Department news release said. 

More:Historic rain event from Hurricane Sally keeps emergency crews busy

The area received 22 inches of rain, 19 of which fell on Wednesday, the release said.

Power outages that accompanied the high winds and over 20 inches of rain caused "several sanitary sewer overflows," that the county is still dealing with, Thursday's news release said.

The Russell Stephenson facility is located on U.S. Highway 98 near the Santa Rosa County line. Overflows from the collection system ultimately discharge into Santa Rosa Sound, the release said.   

More:Walton County assessing damage from Hurricane Sally

Water and Sewer Department personnel are "completely focused on minimizing the amount of sanitary sewer overflows" and have deployed generators and bypass pumps, Mark Wise, the department's deputy director, said in the release.

Neither Wise nor Water and Sewer Director Jeff Littrell returned phone calls seeking comment Thursday or Friday.

Wise said in the release that full restoration of service at the station, which typically handles 500,000 gallons of sewage a day, could not be completed until power was restored across the impacted region.

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On Friday, Gulf Power was reporting it had restored power to all but 1,800 of 34,310 households affected by the storm.

The city of Mary Esther, which operates its own wastewater treatment facility, was also impacted by Sally's rain. City Manager Jared Cobb reported "a few isolated backups" among city residents and said "a couple of manholes" experienced overflows at the height of the storm.

"Right now our system is just trying to catch up with the flows," Cobb said. "By Monday or Tuesday we expect we will be operating back at normal."

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East of Mary Esther, the city of Fort Walton Beach reported wastewater discharged onto the ground in several areas. The city has reported the spills to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Health, according to Fort Walton Beach spokesman Doug Rainer. 

Spills occured on Holmes Boulevard where it intersects with Marilyn Avenue and also where it intersects with Cape Drive, the city said. 

Fort Walton Beach also reported spills at the intersection of Cecelia Drive and Hemlock Drive as well as in front of a home on Cecilia Drive.

More:Important Okaloosa Shoal River crossings have been re-opened

Spills were reported in front of two homes on Okaland Circle and a single home on California Drive.

The news release said spills were reported at the intersection of Driftwood Avenue and Parkway Place as well as at the intersection of Miracle Strip Parkway and Wright Parkway.

All of those areas were disinfected when the overflows ended, Rainer said.

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There are still two locations where overflows continue, the Fort Walton Beach release said. Cleanup in front of a home on Sudduth Circle and at the intersection of Bayshore Street and Bayshore Court will be undertaken when the sewage stops flowing, Rainer said. 

The release cautioned residents to steer clear of areas where overflows continue.

On Wednesday, the Okaloosa County Health Department issued a health advisory following a wastewater release into Cinco Bayou in Fort Walton Beach. The advisory extended from Beal Parkway to Pocahontas Drive, a release from the agency said. It would be lifted when water testing showed the area to be clear of harmful bacteria. 

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The Health Department also issued a precautionary swim advisory for all of Okaloosa's public beaches "due to the potential effects on water quality related to

Hurricane Sally."

"You should assume that water contact may pose an increased risk of disease or illness, particularly for susceptible individuals," the release, also issued Wednesday, said.

In Destin, Destin Water Users also dealt with sewage spills during and after Sally. 

More:Unmanned sailboat washes ashore in PCB after Sally; crew was rescued beforehand

The largest spill, of an estimated 20,000 gallons, occurred Thursday morning. The spill, due to a flow surge on a overburdened system, happened at the Destin Water Users wastewater treatment plant and was contained on site, according to Operations Manager Monica Autrey. 

A spill of an estimated 800 gallons had occurred during the afternoon Wednesday, and was also contained on site.

A 5,000 gallon spill occurred on Gulf Shore Drive when a neighbor opened a manhole to drain stormwater, Autrey said in an email. "It overwhelmed the sewer collection system which was fully operational at the time."

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 A small spill of about 20 gallons was reported at Main Street and Bayou Drive due to a force main malfunction, Autrey said. 

"Most of our issues were post-storm and not as a result of the storm.  The biggest challenge for DWU and other utilities is trying to keep the stormwater out of the sewer system. They aren’t designed to handle it," she said. "Overall we fared very well ... Sally may not have been heading for the Panhandle, but we were prepared."