Ft. Lauderdale Expands Water Advisory Over Sewer Main Breaks
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FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – The city of Fort Lauderdale is asking everyone to not go near certain waterways this weekend as they continue to deal with the effects of two broken sewer pipes
"It's horrible luckily for us we had our boat 20-30 feet from where the leak was," said Bob Shustack, who had a boat in the water nearby and came to check on it.
One pipe broke at the 1100 block of Bayview Drive in George English Park repairing a 14-inch pipe.
The second location at S.E. 10th Avenue and S.E. 2nd Street near downtown will need an assessment before it can be repaired.
Alicia Bresee said she saw the water bubbling up in the canal on Thursday and knew something was wrong.
"I could smell something foul," she explained.
The foul smell was raw sewage spewing from the burst 4-foot wide pipe that is buried in 12 feet of water.
Fixing that pipe requires divers to go in the canal and it will take time.
But on Friday, work crews were able to make significant repairs to the other broken pipe at George English Park.
Since some of the sewage went into the Intracoastal Waterway and there are contamination concerns, the city issued an advisory that affects activities over the weekend.
The city said swimming, fishing, jet-skiing, boating and other water-related activities should be avoided in water bodies within the following boundaries.
North: NW/NE 38 Street
South: I-595/Port Everglades
West: I-95
East: Intracoastal Waterway
In addition:
-George English Lake is closed until further notice
-Himmarshee Canal is closed to vessel navigation
-All public boat launches operated by the City of Fort Lauderdale are closed until further notice
Environmental agencies are taking water samples. Once readings are satisfactory, the advisory will be lifted.
For more information, contact the City of Fort Lauderdale 24-hour Customer Service Center at (954) 828-8000 or visit: fortlauderdale.gov
