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GRU To Pay $7,750 For Spilling Nearly One Million Gallons of Sewage

During a spill in July, GRU was responsible for nearly 1 million gallons of leaking sewage.
During a spill in July, GRU was responsible for nearly 1 million gallons of leaking sewage.

Gainesville Regional Utilities faces a lower fine for July's nearly 1-million gallon sewage spill compared to a much smaller spill in 2005.

According to GRU, a 900,000-gallon sewage spill occurred in July. A second spill of 58,000 gallons happened in August, and GRU now faces a $7,750 fine.

After the 2005 spill totaling 140,000 gallons, GRU was fined $10,000.

In 2005, spills were measured by volume per day. Regulations stated any spill more than 100,000 gallons resulted in a $10,000 fine.

Now, each spill is a $5,000 fine under the Environmental Litigation Reform Act, said Mara Burger, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

FDEP sent GRU a consent order outlining the fines that must be accepted or modified by Nov. 27.

GRU was originally fined $10,000. Fines were lowered to $7,500 for civil penalties and $250 for costs from the FDEP.

Burger said GRU showed a "good face effort after discovery" by mobilizing its forces to clean up the spill. This resulted in the 25 percent reduction from the original $10,000 fine.

GRU can also avoid paying the penalties by creating an "in-kind penalty project or a pollution prevention project" outlined in the consent order.

The project would have to raise one and a half times the civil penalties, totaling $11,250, within 30 days of the approved consent order.

FDEP's consent order also created a project to ensure functioning valves and help prevent spills of this nature in the future.

Rebecca is a reporter for WUFT News who may be contacted by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news @wuft.org