Residents of Indian Harbour Beach are asking why Brevard County discharged 20 million gallons of diluted sewage into a canal system that feeds into the Indian River Lagoon after Hurricane Irma.
Brevard County officials said the discharge was made to avoid sewage backups into beachside homes.
Indian Harbour Beach resident Tom Nathan, though, said with all the efforts being taken to clean up the lagoon, dumping sewage into it seemed counterproductive.
“We all pay the half-cent tax and everything to clean up the lagoon, and that’s not a way to clean up the lagoon,” Nathan said.
Brevard County commissioners were scheduled to see a presentation during a 5 p.m. meeting Tuesday to get more information on what happened and what can be done to avoid or mitigate future discharges.
“We do have a $130 million utilities services upgrade that’s underway,” Brevard County communications director Don Walker said. “We’re three years into it and we set many priorities on how we’re going to do this upgrade.
“The bottom line is that this may be a reprioritization of what those projects will be.”
Cox Media Group
