The City of St. Petersburg has been issued a hefty fine as a result of its recent sewage spills.
The city is facing a $820,000 fine by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection after spilling more than 200 million gallons of sewage in Tampa Bay and Pinellas waterways since August 2015.
The fine was written out in a 12-page consent order from the state DEP and issued Thursday afternoon.
The city can avoid $810,000 in fines by implementing changes to prevent future sewage spills and reduce pollution.
The document also highlights the steps the city has to take to fix the issues moving forward.
Among those steps:
- The city is expected to dig injection wells at Southwest and Northwest wastewater plants
- Repair cracks in pipes, fix manhole covers
- Develop a sewage master plan
- Provide explanation of its plans for the Albert Whitted sewage plant
- Changes must be done by mid 2018