St. Petersburg's Northwest sewage plant will also be upgraded, hopefully by rainy season

As the city addresses the recent sewage crisis, much of the attention has been focused on whether it should reopen the shuttered Albert Whitted wastewater treatment facility.

City staff, council members and activists have also spent hours vetting the massive expansion underway at the Southwest sewage plant.

But what about the Northwest plant?

That plant also had its own massive spill during last year's crisis, enraging residents and eroding trust in Mayor Rick Kriseman. He initially claimed residents didn't need to be notified that 58 million gallons of overflowing sewage was running through the streets beyond warning signs because it was basically reclaimed water.

A week later, the mayor admitted the error, that the water was dirtier than the city initially reported.

Now the city is spending $16 million on upgrades at the Northwest plant to prevent a similar spill in west St. Petersburg. After Hurricane Hermine dumped heavy rains on the city in September, sewage flowed into neighborhoods, across 22nd Avenue N and into nearby Walter Fuller Park.