With investigations and independent audits in the works, Mayor Rick Kriseman is taking the heat over the sewage crisis.

  • 'We could have communicated better,' Kriseman says
  • Mayor, Congressman Jolly at odds
  • FWC is investigating spills

More than 190 million gallons have been released into Tampa Bay and other local waterways. Mayor Rick Kriseman acknowledged things could have been handled better.

“I’ve said it before, we could have communicated better," said the mayor.

Kriseman is promising more transparency and man-power hours to fix the problem.

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.

Kriseman said he doesn’t know why he and the city council were never shown that report when it came out in 2014.

“I can speculate and I hate to do that, because if I’m speculating and calling somebody out and it doesn’t end up being the case, I don’t want to do that," he said. "I definitely have my own suspicions. We’ll see if my suspicions are true."

Additional sewage was released into the Bay during the torrential rains that came with Hurricane Hermine last month. 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.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is now investigating the spills.

Congressman David Jolly has “turned over materials” for FWC to investigate the possibility of criminal wrongdoing.

Kriseman said Jolly is capitalizing on a crisis for political gain.  

“Congressman Jolly is up for re-election,“ Kriseman said. “Unfortunely, this is political.”

Congressman Jolly’s office released a response to Kriseman's statement.

“This is a serious matter. Representative Jolly will not engage in a political debate regarding an environmental crisis and he would hope Mayor Kriseman would also want to make sure no laws were broken.”

City employees with any information about the waste water issues are being asked to come forward.