News

By Jane Musgrave

State environmental regulators want Boynton Beach utilities to pay a $182,000 fine for a July 2023 sewer line break that caused 22 million gallons of sewage to spew into the Intracoastal Waterway.

The proposed consent order, which is to be discussed by city commissioners on Oct. 15, would end the investigation by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection into lapses that caused the six-day spill. It fouled the waterway, caused some businesses to close and spurred no-swimming advisories during the busy Independence Day holiday.

In the proposed order, state regulators said the utility, and ultimately its customers, could avoid the fine if it instead chose to do a project that would benefit the environment.

The so-called “in-kind penalty projects” would have to cost at least as much as the proposed fine. But, some types of projects would have to cost at least 1½ times as much as the proposed fine, or $273,000. Whether the city pays the fine or does an in-kind project, it also must pay $1,000 to cover the state’s investigative costs.

The fine is on top of the $1.6 million the city said it spent cleaning up the spill.

Utilities Director Poonam Kalkat declined to say what recommendations she would make to the commission.

“We have the option of picking which way we want to go,” she said. “All of the projects are on the table. I can’t say what the commission will do.”

During a meeting with regulators in May, Kalkat suggested various projects, including upgrading air conditioning units in city buildings, planting trees along the waterway to create a living shoreline, or restoring coral reefs, according to minutes from the meeting.

She also suggested some system improvements, such as installing an advanced leak detection system, lining pipes in some parts of the city, or replacing valves in lift stations.

Regulators said they needed more information before approving the living shoreline project and others designed to improve water quality, enhance marine habitat or reduce the city’s carbon footprint. They also cautioned that the projects can’t duplicate those the utility is being required to do under the proposed order.

Regulators didn’t respond to an email, asking which projects, if any, they have signed off on.

In addition to the penalty, under the order the city would have to continue to provide the agency proof that it is taking steps to reduce the chance for sewage spills and has taken steps so it will respond more quickly if one occurs.

The utility would also have to submit a plan to improve lift stations and another one describing how it will maintain or improve the decades-old system.

The utility would have to report its progress to the state every six months. Failure to do so would result in $1,000-a-day fines. If any discharges occur, the city would agree to pay up to $15,000 for each day the spill went unchecked.

During the May meeting, city officials balked at regulators’ claims that they didn’t quickly begin critical water testing at the spill site at the end of Boynton Beach Boulevard east of Federal Highway.

“For sampling, it didn’t start Day 1 because the spill was still leaking,” said Kathryn Rossmell, an attorney at the West Palm Beach law firm Lewis, Longman & Walker, representing the utility. “Once the leak stopped the sampling started.”

Bridjette Bucell, an environmental manager at the state agency, said that wasn’t an excuse.

“Sampling is required once (the) spill is discovered so we know how far out the spill was impacting,” she said, according to minutes of the meeting.

Paul Polito, another Lewis, Longman & Walker attorney, said the city did everything it could to stop the leak and alert the public.

“On Day 1 they checked the outfall, notified citizens, added buoys, had boats out collecting solids, were contacting emergency vendors to get parts to fix on the same day, and posted signage,” he said, according to the minutes. “They took other actions the same day to prevent this from happening again.”

In a report to the commission in December, Kalkat described what she called her staff’s Herculean efforts to stop the leak and repair the lines after the spill was discovered on July 3, 2023.

The breach occurred when an estimated 50-year-old pipe failed. The pipe ran through a concrete box that was designed by the Florida Department of Transportation for stormwater drainage. The so-called conflict box regularly filled with water, including corrosive saltwater, weakening the pipe, Kalkat said.

By city rules, it should have been in a casing to protect it, but it wasn’t, she said. Kalkat said divers spent hours, battling unusually high tides in the cramped box, to secure the damaged pipe with a clamp.

“After trying for over 10 hours the divers were unsuccessful as the back pressure in the pipe, and the tidal water, did not allow the repair clamp saddle to be tightened completely,” she told commissioners.

To reduce back pressure, crews then installed a 20-inch line stop downstream of the break. By alleviating the pressure, it was hoped that divers, working at low tide, could secure the clamp. Again, their efforts failed.

The leak, which came as the city was preparing to advertise for bids to replace the line, came at a particularly bad time, Kalkat said.

With people on vacation for the July 4 holiday, the city scrambled to find parts and help from other municipalities, she said.

Ultimately, the spill was stopped when a 900-foot above-ground bypass hose was successfully connected to the damaged pipe.

She said the spill was stopped in three days. State regulators said raw sewage continued to flow for six days. The records don’t offer a reason for the disagreement.

On July 20, two weeks after the breach, the Florida Health Department announced that fecal-bacteria testing of the Intracoastal Waterway showed that the water was again safe and the public could “resume water-related activities.”

The announcement was good news for nearby businesses, particularly those at the marina.

At the time, Fernando Melo, who works for Boynton Beach Boat rentals, said the business was shuttered for three days. “The water was not clean and it didn’t smell good, so we didn’t want to expose our customers,” he said.

By mid-September, a new pipe had been installed — this one outside the conflict box, Kalkat said.

“It was a perfect storm,” she said. She praised city workers, contractors, state agencies and nearby municipalities for helping the city with the repairs and cleanup.

Since the spill, the city has thoroughly reviewed the system and updated its operational plans for dealing with a breach.

There is only one other pipe in a conflict box. It is covered in casing, she said.

“Still,” Kalkat said, “we’re going to be keeping a close eye on it.”

Ditto other parts of the system. “We’re going to keep checking and preempt anything like this that can happen,” she said.