PANAMA CITY — A mechanical failure at the Millville Wastewater Treatment Plant caused thousands of gallons of raw sewage to overflow into Watson Bayou on Wednesday morning.
According to the city's report, the failure occurred about 9:30 a.m. and 160,000 gallons of sewage poured into the bayou.
Panama City City Manager Mark McQueen said the problem was with the teeth on the screen bar where the sewage goes through. The teeth catch foreign objects, such as rags and ropes, and separate them from the natural matter.
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“It appears that the teeth on the screen bar were broken because of foreign objects that have been placed into our sewer system damaged those teeth and as a result it created a backlog of foreign material and matter,” McQueen said.
McQueen also said the city’s sewer and stormwater systems have been very stressed since Hurricane Michael, especially this year with record-breaking rainfall.
“As a result, there is more flow of I&I (inflow and infiltration) into those sewer lines than we ever experienced before,” McQueen said. “We’ve had lines that were comprised, that are cracked or broken, because when the trees fell, they uprooted and cracked those lines.”
The Panama City utilities team quickly implemented a temporary solution to redirect the sewage flow into the treatment tanks while Marshall Brothers Construction assisted in deploying a containment boom in the bayou.
McQueen said workers fixed the leak in a little more than 3 hours.
The plant has been fully operational since the spill was contained but the fix is only temporary until crews can get the proper repairs made, McQueen said.
The city also notified the health department to put up a swimming advisory notice and requested the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to start forensic testing in the area. The spill will have no direct effect on residents, McQueen said.
The Millville Wastewater Treatment Plant has been in operation for 72 years and lacks proper technology, McQueen said.
“Fundamentally, it’s a plant that shouldn’t be in the middle of a body of water, such as Watson Bayou,” he said.
The city recently received $1.5 million from the state to help the city do a study on where to relocate the plant to a safer, more sensible place.
“Once DEP awards those dollars that the legislature has approved, we will be able to begin that study for the long-term solution of eventually closing down the Millville Wastewater Treatment Plant, decommissioning it and moving that capability and product to another location,” McQueen said.
The costs of the spill still must be determined, McQueen said. City officials are working with engineers and contractors to get a permanent solution figured out and funded, as well as a timeline of when it will be finished.
“It’s just got to be done and we’re making that happen,” McQueen said. “Emergency work orders are in place so we can go ahead and get that work accomplished.”
He said the $1.3 million from the state revolving fund loan will go toward revising and restoring the city’s sewer and stormwater systems. The city started receiving the funding two weeks ago and commissioners on Tuesday approved the engineers to begin working on the designs for the systems.
McQueen said he was impressed and proud with how the various teams worked to contain Wednesday's spill.
“It could have been a catastrophic disaster of epic proportion,” McQueen said. “It could have been so much worse if not for the quick response of so many teams working to keep this ship running.”