As 2015 winds down we took a look back at the year’s news in St. Pete and came up with a list of the top 10 most absorbing events. Whether the news evoked outrage in a community, excitement or even heartbreak, these are the top headlines of 2015.
No. 2 – Raw sewage
Since August, Mayor Rick Kriseman has been plagued by toilet water. After the city experienced what was described as a 100-year rain event, his administration made the decision to divert more than 15 million gallons of untreated sewage into Clam Bayou, Eckerd College campus’s waterfront, and Tampa Bay.
In doing so he officially enraged Gulfport, Eckerd College and just about every environmental activist in the city – and a bunch outside the city too.
The administration tried to explain it as an unavoidable circumstance that’s not likely to happen again and that the city simply just doesn’t get that much rain under normal circumstances. Officials contended that had something not been done the sewage could have started pouring into the city’s streets, even into people’s homes.
The problem, though, put a spotlight on the city’s aging, crumbling wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. City employees and elected officials now are working feverishly to find funding for sweeping improvements to a system that in some areas is 75 years old.
The controversy didn’t stop there. After it seemed reaction had calmed over the city’s infamous wastewater dump – or “poonami” as some clever reporters called it – the administration acknowledged another 15 million gallons of partially treated sewage also was dumped.
Partially treated sewage, as the Kriseman administration described it, is water that is one step shy of being considered reclaimed water. To break that down, the argument was that it was harmless and needn’t be reported. Nevertheless, the “ick” factor remains and further outrage ensued.
The unrest has been so pervasive it crept into other Kriseman critiques. Opponents of the new Pier reference the sewage dump, often painting Kriseman and his administration as “cronies” and anti-environment.
Even Tea Party activist David McKalip has complained at City Council meetings about the dump, though usees it as a way to criticize the city for not spending its money wisely.
Despite the roaring controversy following poonami 2015, it got the ball rolling on much-needed upgrades to city infrastructure. City Council subsequently hit the pause button on spending settlement funds from the BP oil disaster in anticipation that the money may need to be used to upgrade water infrastructure.
Plans are also being laid out to incrementally fund all necessary improvements during the coming years. While some of those conversations may have occurred behind the scenes regardless of the sewage dump, it’s not likely the conversation would have been quite as popularized.
With waste and stormwater infrastructure in the public’s crosshairs, the city has no choice but to react.
