PORT ST. LUCIE — About 800 gallons of wastewater escaped from a Port St. Lucie lift station Tuesday, Sept. 8, after a power outage left the facility without electricity, according to Scott Samples, the city's communications manager.
The spill occurred at the WP-22 lift station at 170 SW Hawthorne Circle. Samples said the city discovered water escaping from the lift station at 11 a.m. Sept. 8.
“Approximately 800 gallons escaped onto the lift station driveway and a nearby swale area, of which 720 gallons were collected from a vacuum pumper truck,” Samples said. “Per regulatory requirements, lime was used to mitigate any issues with the remaining 80 gallons. No lasting impacts are expected.”
Samples said the outage prevented electricity from reaching the lift station.
“A power outage in the area resulted in electricity not getting to the lift station. City staff reported the outage and a generator was used at the lift station until power could be restored,” he said.
The city has since taken steps to clean the affected area and report the incident to regulators.
“The site was cleaned per regulatory requirements. All regulatory agencies were notified,” Samples said.