DEP Lifts Sewage Consent Order

Todays News

Read about the history of Lift Station 7 and 87 in the July issue of SRQ Magazine

A consent order placed on Sarasota’s city wastewater system by the state Department of Environmental Protection was closed Monday following improvements to a number of lift stations, including one where a massive spill occurred in 2005. But a long-term project to install a new station at Luke Wood Park continues its long trudge forward. 

Mitt Tidwell, city utilities director, said the decision by DEP to close a consent order put in place a decade ago shows recognition of a commitment on Sarasota’s park to capital improvements. “The reliability of the wastewater collection and treatment system in the City of Sarasota has been enhanced and the surface water in Sarasota Bay is cleaner,” he said. In meeting recommendations of the consent order, the city conducted significant rehabilitations for eight lift stations, did pipe replacement and lining citywide, and installed a monitoring and alarm system that allows for control of remote equipment. The final improvements made before the consent order was lifted were to Lift Station 7, where 550,000 gallons of sewage spilled into Hudson Bayou in 2005. There, a new 500-kilowatt generator was recently installed, ensuring the heavily-used station would remain functional in a storm.

Tidwell said some of those improvements had been put off because the city is in the process of building a new station, Lift Station 87, at Luke Wood Park, and LS7 will be taken off line when that project is done. He notes that while neighbors remain concerned about the aging LS7, public works staff visits that station daily and there has been aggressive upkeep on the site. “It’s 35 years old, but virtually the only thing that still exists from when it was built is the concrete,” he said. “We’ve replaced pumps, motors and components. A new generator was the last thing.”

Of course, City Commissioner Susan Chapman, who as a neighborhood activist pushed for problems at LS7 to be addressed, said the improvements have been disruptive. “A lot of maintenance issues have been taken care of, but a lot of it is a retrofitting of a worn out lift station,” she said. “I don’t think the city had any choice. The station was at risk if there was a storm event. But why spend that money? Because of the slowness of finishing the Lift Station 87 project. It’s just spending more good money after bad.”

Meanwhile, the city continues to discuss the long-terms plans at LS87. A special meeting will be held July 7 to discuss elements of the project, including the design of the pipeline to the station. 

Read about the history of Lift Station 7 and 87 in the July issue of SRQ Magazine

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