St. Johns County reports 18,000-gallon sewage spill in St. Augustine Shores

A blocked sewer line caused about an 18,000-gallon sewage spill in St. Augustine Shores over the weekend, St. Johns County Utilities Director Colin Groff said. 

"For St. Johns County, that's big," Groff said. 

Sewer line blockages are typically caused by grease and items such as "flushable wipes" ― which actually should not be flushed. The spill happened on Sunday morning at a manhole about 30-40 feet from a sewage pump station on Baracoa Court in St. Augustine Shores, Groff said. 

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The county's communication system at the pump station notified staff that the pump wasn't working properly, and staff checked it and found the overflow, he said. 

A lot of the sewage spilled into a large stormwater pond nearby, Groff said. Using a vacuum truck, the county cleaned up about 3,500 gallons of the spill.

The county tested the stormwater pond near the spill and at the other side of the pond and did not find a detectable level of fecal coliform bacteria, he said. 

As required, the county reported the spill to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.