MELBOURNE, Fla. – Melbourne must pay $3,950 for a Nov. 15 incident in which a contractor accidentally broke a sewage pipe, spilling 400,000 gallons of raw sewage into the Eau Gallie River.
The penalty includes $250 to cover the cost of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection investigation into the matter. DEP issued the order Jan. 9. The city must pay the penalty by Jan. 31, News 6 partner Florida Today reported.
On Nov. 15, a worker with CORE Engineering & Construction Inc., of Winter Park, accidentally damaged the pipe while drilling beneath the river to install a new 20-inch water main, just east of the Apollo Boulevard bridge. The worker instead ruptured a 16-inch wastewater main, causing the sewage to spill. The damage resulted in four, roughly 2-inch diameter holes in the pipe.
At the time, the city of Melbourne had warned residents to keep themselves and their pets out of the Eau Gallie River and not eat fish caught there.
The accident added to several recent sewage spills in waters leading to the Indian River Lagoon.
In September, a sewer force main in Indian Harbour Beach leaked 1.5 million gallons of sewage — 733,000 gallons into the ground, 578,000 gallons into the nearby Oars and Paddles Canal and 210,000 into a nearby stormwater pond.
On Nov. 18, Brevard County entered an agreement with DEP giving the county one year to replace a 1.1 mile section of county force main along South Patrick Drive, between DeSoto Parkway and Banana River Drive.
Brevard also was ordered to pay DEP $2,750 in civil penalties, including the $250 cost of the investigation and given a year to evaluate a 2.8-mile section of sewer pipe along South Patrick Drive/North Riverside Drive, between DeSoto Parkway and Sand Dollar Road.
In June, Brevard County was fined $1,250 in penalties in connection with a 1.7-million-gallon sewage discharge along South Patrick Drive in Indian Harbour Beach, 1 million gallons of which went into a canal that flows to the Banana River.
Sewage contains nutrients that can fuel harmful algae blooms, as well as pathogens that can cause gastrointestinal and other illnesses.