PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFTS) — 53rd Avenue North is a small, quiet residential neighborhood in Pinellas County.
But for the last few weeks, the sights and sounds of an active construction zone have identified the neighborhood.
"I'm feeling better that it's almost done. I'm tired of looking at the equipment," said Barry Medlock.
Barry Medlock's home sits right in front of the construction, which has the entire street dug up.
Medlock can't access his driveway or mailbox or set his trash out. But that's better than the alternative.
ABC Action News reporter Jada Williams first visited Medlock's house on Aug. 28. That's when his yard had a rapidly flowing river of raw sewage running through it.
"I was talking myself, 'Here we go again.' I was like, it's probably me. I thought, 'It's gonna be my house.' And it sure was. It was the whole yard," he recalled.
More than 4 million gallons of sewage rushed through the neighborhood, the majority of which inundated Medlock's yard. That was the third sewage spill in four years.
Pinellas County Utilities Director Jeremy Waugh said the sewage pipe underneath 53rd Avenue North was cracked, causing each of the spills.
"The three leaks that have happened in the last several years have all occurred at different locations on the same pipe. So the entire pipeline is failing," he said.
Although the neighborhood is small and residential, the system is the mainline for the county's sewage.
"This specific pipeline that is broken and that we're replacing is unique in that it's a large transmission main. So not every street in Pinellas County has these type of pipes, the normal localized pipes that collect most just normal house sewage, don't have these kind of catastrophic breaks. It's just the main transmission lines. This specific line carries sewage water from the beach communities to the treatment plant, and so it's a high-capacity service line for us," he explained.
Since the first break, neighbors have asked the county to do more. Waugh said it's a lengthy process, and those leaks showed temporary band-aid fixes weren't enough.
"It is difficult to find and repair and maintain these pipes, especially as large transmission mains," he said. "The large amount of water that escaped, a tremendous more amount still carried on to the treatment plant. So these pipes always flow with water. It's very difficult to dig them up and test them and maintain them. So, you have to come up with long-term, thought-through strategies for full pipe replacements. That's what took so long between the first break and today. We're actually ready to start construction, it's that it does take years."
The pipe is about a mile and a half long in total. Currently, the only part that's been replaced is the area where the crack was. The finally spill happened about a month before a full solution projectto replace the aging pipes was set to kick off.
"The repair that was done was on the existing pipe. The new CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) Project that's going to be built will be an entirely new pipe, a whole new pipe. The old pipe that's bad, that's been breaking, will be abandoned. We're going to leave it in the ground. We're going to turn off all the water so no more water will ever flow through that pipe again."
The current pipe was built in the 1970s. Because sewage is toxic and caustic, sewer pipes have a lifespan of about 50 years.
"The assurance we can give is that the new pipe materials we're installing will be PVCs, a plastic pipe. They're modern materials, which will have another at least 50 years design life of the pipe. We have many PVC pipes in our system today. They perform well. They are more modern materials and can better withstand the caustic, toxic environment of the sewer," Waugh explained.
The latest sewage spill also reached Boca Ciega Bay. Waugh said their team is monitoring any potential impacts there.
"The sewage that flew out of the force main was captured into a storm drain, which drained to Boca Ciega Bay. We have tested the waters there, and they have tested clean to water quality standards. We did find sewage in the water after the break, and we've been monitoring that daily and have passed the two days of consecutive testing that the water has tested clean as of last week," Waugh said.
That project is slated to begin in four to six and take six to eight months to complete. Medlock said he hopes this fix runs smoothly and he never has to deal with raw sewage rushing through his yard again.
"I'm hoping this time when they do it, the next time they do it, it'll be done right that time, and we won't have to worry about it for another 50 to 60 years. In which I won't be here," he said.
The county is hosting a community meeting to discuss the project with residents. The meeting will be held on Sept. 24 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Madeira Beach Fundamental K-8.
Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone obtained the most recent batch of Florida teacher exit interviews which detail, in their own words, why teachers left the classroom this summer.
