"As if loss of air conditioning and refrigeration weren’t bad enough, widespread power outages in hurricane-battered Florida are teaming with structural failures to cause another headache: sewage overflows.

Local governments have submitted well over 100 “notices of pollution” to the state Department of Environmental Protection since Hurricane Irma struck, some involving multiple spills and releases of millions of gallons of wastewater in various stages of treatment. Officials in many cities were still scrambling Thursday to determine how much sewage had escaped, while the state warned people to steer clear of standing water.

'Floodwaters may contain not only bacteria from sanitary sewer overflows but other potential contaminants from agricultural or industrial waste,' environmental protection department spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller said."

John Flesher reports for the Associated Press September 15, 2017. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"In Irma’s Wake, Millions Of Gallons Of Sewage And Wastewater Are Bubbling Up Across Florida" (Washington Post) [3]