San Sebastian River suffers raw sewerage spill

A 60,750 gallon sewer spill was reported to Historic City News by the City of St Augustine at approximately 8:00 a.m. this morning. City crews arrived to find a power outage at a sanitary sewer lift station located off Masters Drive at the eastern terminus of Helen Street.

As soon as city crews arrived, a survey revealed a manhole at the end of Florida Avenue was overflowing into the San Sebastian River and that the sewage was not recoverable.

When asked by Historic City News if there is a “boil water notice” as part of the sewerage spill, St Augustine Public Works Director, Martha Graham, said, “No.”

Temporary power was restored to the lift station by city crews and a permanent repair was made shortly thereafter by Florida Power and Light linemen. Reportedly, a raccoon worked his way into the control panel and shorted out the station’s power.

City Manager John Regan commended Graham and the work of city crews this morning for their response and their attention to compliance, both important in such incidents.

In a press release from spokesman Paul Williamson, reporters were told that the City of St Augustine followed all required protocols including notification of the appropriate state authorities, although those agencies were not named. Williamson stated that water sampling and testing continues Saturday as required following such an incident.

Signs notifying the public of the spill have been posted at the San Sebastian River bridges at SR-16, US-1, and King Street. Signs are also posted at the end of Florida Avenue.