The Department of Environmental Protection recently issued a consent order that requires St. Pete Beach to spend millions repairing its sewer system or face severe penalties.

"Any sewage that leaks into Boca Ciega Bay is a violation of federal law," said resident Jim Anderson. "The city should’ve fixed these things."

Anderson complained to the DEP and said he took pictures of sewer spills that the city did not report.

"The sewer leaks have been going on for years," he said. "The city wasn’t reporting the leaks. So, I went up and started taking pictures of the sewer leaks and told the DEP that the sewage is leaking into Boca Ciega Bay."

The DEP consent order, which the city agreed to, states if sewage spills are not reported within 24 hours, the city could face a fine of $30,000 per day. The order also requires the city to fix the pump and lift stations within three years.

Mayor Maria Lowe said she campaigned on fixing the antiquated sewer system, and the city already planned to spend $6.4 million for repairs before the DEP's consent order came down.

"The city itself can be very proud of its efforts in allocating the funds necessary to rectify this problem, and we were already well on our way to a full engineering program and plan for how to upgrade our systems," she said. "We now have a closer relationship with DEP because of some of the unfortunate spills that occurred."

Anderson said he believes an inflow and infiltration study will prove that many of the city's 41.5 miles of sewer pipe also need to be repaired.

"I’m happy with what has been done so far," he said. "The problem is getting the city to admit that they’re going to have to fix these leaking sewer pipes."

Lowe said the sewer pipes beneath Pass-A-Grille Way need to be overhauled, and the process could be very expensive.

"The $6.4 million that is referenced in the consent order is only a fraction of the that the city will be investing in its sewer system over the next two or three years," she said. "It will be upwards of $20 million dollars by the time that we are complete with addressing all of the I-and-I issues, as well as the pump station issues."