Bradenton Agrees To Settlement With Suncoast Waterkeeper

BRADENTON, FL — Bradenton officials confirmed that the city has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the Suncoast Waterkeeper group late last year. The environmental group sued the city for a history of sewage spills in the Manatee River.

“We all cherish our environment and our waterways – our rivers and estuaries, our gulf, the bays,” City Administrator Rob Perry said in a news release. “We have the beautiful Manatee River right here in front of us, and that’s a treasure.”

Suncoast Waterkeeper also confirmed the settlement in a statement:

The city came to the table and will now make much-needed upgrades to their sewage systems to reduce spills while also investing in projects to improve local waters and estuaries.

We want to thank our partners in the lawsuit, Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, Manasota-88 and Our Children's Earth Foundation for helping to protect our water.

The crux of the lawsuit stemmed from seasonal discharge of partially treated sewage into the Manatee River, usually when the capacity of wastewater treatment facilities was exceeded.

City officials said occurrences of this type were the result of a sudden influx of groundwater entering the aged sewer and wastewater treatment infrastructure during periods of heavy rainfall.

SEE ALSO:

• Bradenton Sewage Spills Targeted By Impending Lawsuit

While the city said it was already in the process of replacing its aged infrastructure and expanding the capacity of the treatment facilities, the lawsuit has expedited the process. As a result, officials said the city is well on its way to upgrading the underground sewer collection system necessary for the future.

City officials said federal grant money can be used to fund a large segment of its efforts to replace this infrastructure over the next three years.

“Aging infrastructure needs to be repaired, and our engineers have been dedicated to completing these necessary underground sewer piping system improvements for many years,” Perry said. “We’ve got a plan, we have the resources to implement that plan, and it is my responsibility to make sure we’re solidly positioned for the next 50 years.”

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