The St. Petersburg sewage saga will continue Wednesday.

  • Another meeting set for Wednesday on recent St. Petersburg sewage problems
  • Millions of gallons of sewage dumped into Tampa Bay, other waterways in past year
  • Sewer system's age, capacity, heavy rains, hurricanes causing the city's sewage woes
  • Mayor Kriseman proposing 5-year, $300 million fix

The Pinellas County Legislative Delegation is meeting today in St. Petersburg to discuss the city's recent wastewater problems and what can be done in the future to prevent problems. 

Since August 2015, St. Petersburg has dumped more than 190 million gallons of sewage into Tampa Bay and other local waterways. City officials were warned this could happen when they shut down the Albert Whitted water treatment facility, according to one whistleblower. 

A permanent fix to the problem is not likely until at least 2018, when major upgrades to the Southwest wastewater treatment plant may be completed.

St. Petersburg resident Walter Donnelly, who heads the Alliance for Bayway Communities, said he hopes to hear more about funding today and less about politics. 

"It's right at our front door," Donnelly said of the sewage problem. "So that's why, other than the fact that we represent all our neighbors up and down the Pinellas Bayway, that we're paying such close attention to this." 

Additional sewage was released into the Bay during the torrential rains that came with Hurricane Hermine in August. Problems have been caused by a combination of an aged sewer system with low capacity and heavy rains. While the City of St. Petersburg is responsible for conducting tests in the immediate area of the sewage spill, Scott directed the Department of Health to begin additional testing at this site.

Donnelly has attended all of the workshops on the sewage crisis, including one in September when Mayor Rick Kriseman laid out his plan to fix the entire sewage system. 

At today's workshop, Donnelly may hear more about the mayor's five-year, $300-million plan to expand the system. Today's meeting will take place at 9 a.m. at the Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital Education and Conference Center.

"Getting everybody together to put their cards on the table is one way, another way is with funding," Donnelly said. "As I mentioned, the City of St. Petersburg is halfway there, certainly the state government and the federal government can help with that and down at this level, at the local level, people are very much inclined to fix this, to make it go away permanently." 

Kriseman has said the other half of funding for his plan could fall on taxpayers, who would have to renew the Penny for Pinellas tax. Donnelly said the residents he represents would likely be open to that. 

The mayor's plan to revamp the sewer system also calls for improving the lining of the sewer pipes and upgrading manhole covers.