On Wednesday, a blockage reported to the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation noted that a system failure caused wastewater to flow into the river.
“At 12:10 pm the city water Reclamation Facility experienced an operational failure,” the notice said. “The filter system had a blockage of the media causing 1.2 million gallons of partially treated wastewater to be bypassed into the Manatee River. The bypass was closed at 5:10 pm and the river sampling was started. City staff cleaned the (areas) affected and a normal operation resumed.”
The sewage had not completed the disinfection process from raw sewage.
Officials continue to test the river for bacteria.
In 2022, Bradenton settled a lawsuit with the environmental group Suncoast Waterkeeper regarding wastewater spilling.
“We spent a lot of time monitoring the compliance with the terms of our settlement,” said the nonprofit’s founder Justin Bloom. “Bradenton is doing a lot of work to fix their system and come into compliance and this is really unfortunate."
Bloom says the group had identified a lot of systemic problems at the city's facility, but the recent spill was not related.
“In the past we've had major intentional bypasses,” he said. “They knew that there was a problem with the sewage treatment plant, or that the system got overwhelmed and they intentionally bypassed it, meaning they bypass a part of the treatment system or they bypass the plant and it goes into the river. This was not an intentional bypass.”
He said water temperatures are cooler right now so there is less of a concern that the spill will fuel an algae bloom.
“We live in an area where these types of things are really impactful on our environment,” Bloom said. “We need to be vigilant and to be watching local governments that operate sewage systems, and, and in cases where they're making efforts to upgrade them, I think they need the support of residents to accomplish those goals.”
Bloom said residents should avoid recreational activities around the spill area which is near downtown Bradenton east of the Riverwalk.
