St. Petersburg: We may never know how many millions of gallons of sewage was dumped

ST. PETERSBURG — The city has now spent eight straight days dumping millions of gallons of partially treated sewage from its overburdened sewer system into the waters of Tampa Bay.

While that dumping continued Thursday, St. Petersburg's top public works official made this admission to the City Council: They will never know exactly how much partially treated sewage has been released into the bay.

Public Works Administrator Claude Tankersley said a stuck flow meter on discharge pipes has made it impossible to determine how many millions of gallons have befouled the bay since Aug. 31. The city told the state that as of Monday morning, more than 20 million gallons had been released.

Thus, Tankersley told the Tampa Bay Times, the city may never know how much was dumped as a result of Hurricane Hermine.

Officials also could not say when the discharges will stop.