HOLLY HILL, Fla. — The pipes that carry sewage under the streets of Holly Hill are so old and broken apart that the Environmental Protection Agency could shut down the city's entire waste water system. Now, taxpayers will have to pay to repair the system.
The old clay pipes that were made in the 50s are breaking apart. There is not as much concern with what's getting out as what's getting in.
Water from ditches and storms is leaking inside. It all ends up going to the water treatment plant, which can't handle the load.
Video crews carefully lowered a camera into a manhole Wednesday in Holly Hill. As the camera rolled a few feet down the line, they found that ground water was pouring into the old clay pipe, through cracks and breaks.
The neglect has gone on so long across the city's 56 miles of pipe, the city manager said it's reached epic proportions.
"When you have a system that is over 50 years old, you obviously can't rely on that system to keep performing like it did 50 years ago," City Manager Dr. Oel Wingo said.
Holly Hill approved nearly $2 million this week for emergency repairs to the system.
Leaders only said "yes" to spend the money, after the Department of Environmental Protection (EPA) issued 34 violations and fines.
It threatened to put the city on the EPA watch list and Holly Hill was at risk of having its waste water facilities shut down. But emergency repairs authorized Tuesday will keep the system running for now.
"An immediate, true emergency situations where we've got effluent bubbling out on the ground or we've got pipes literally collapsing," Wingo said.
The city manager says water and sewer charges will have to be raised though at least until all the problems are addressed, which could take years.
This has a domino effect. Some streets are starting to sink, when pipes collapse and those roads have to be fixed.
The city is still analyzing video of its system to figure out just how many fixes it needs to make.
WFTV
