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Titusville water reclamation facility responsible for sewage spill into Indian River lagoon

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is investigating another spill into the fragile Indian River Lagoon.

The city's water reclamation facility pumped raw sewage into the water for more than a day.

Regulators do not seem to think it will impact the lagoon much.

The DEP said the spill could not be removed from the water, but they said it will dissipate and dilute with the constantly moving water.

The DEP said a break in the line belonging to the Titusville Osprey Water Reclamation Facility caused the contamination Tuesday, but they did report and repair it quickly.

The lagoon is not a source for drinking water, but for 28 hours, that sewage spilled into the Indian River Lagoon.

It's not the first spill in the area.

The city of Melbourne was slapped with a nearly $4,000 fine for a sewage pipe that spilled more than 400,000 gallons of water into the Eau Gallie River in November.

Residents more than a mile away could smell the pollution.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said there are several factors that determine if a fine will be assessed, such as how serious the violation is and if the release was beyond the control of the polluting facility.

They also take into consideration any history of spills from the facility.

All of those factors are being investigated.

Channel 9 asked the Department of Environmental Protection how many times Titusville water reclamation facilities have contributed to water contamination in the last five years.

The DEP said it would release the information on Monday.