Bradenton officials promised to stop Manatee River sewage spills. But it happened again

A Bradenton sewage spill this week ended up with wastewater being diverted into the Manatee River.

The City of Bradenton reported a public notice on Wednesday of the spill from its wastewater reclamation facility, located at 1810 First Street, to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

“At 12:10 pm the city water Reclamation Facility experienced an operational failure,” the notice said. “The filter system had a blockage of the media causing 1.2 million gallons of partially treated wastewater to be bypassed into the Manatee River. The bypass was closed at 5:10 pm and the river sampling was started. City staff cleaned the (areas) affected and a normal operation resumed.”

The City of Bradenton also posted to its Instagram account that the 1.2 million gallon spill was due to an operational failure that led to a 90-minute tank overflow due to blockages.

“A seized bypass valve was manually reopened, and the surrounding curb and gutter area on 17th Ave, approximately 200 yards, swiftly returned to normal after cleaning and treatment,” the Wednesday Instagram post said. “The City is investigating the system malfunction and collaborating with environmental agencies on discharge and drainage issues.”

Diverting sewage spills into the Manatee River

It’s not the first time city officials have diverted sewage spills into the Manatee River. According to a previous Herald report, the City of Bradenton’s own reports state about 30 million gallons of raw sewage were spilled into the Manatee River since July 2017.

In May 2022, city officials settled a lawsuit with Suncoast Waterkeeper, a local environmental conservation group, that required city leaders to spend about $7.8 million toward improving the wastewater treatment system and $220,000 on a local water quality improvement project.

There are undisclosed financial penalties for noncompliance, according to the settlement.