Crews back on site of troubled sewage pipeline

Hillsborough County, Florida — Hillsborough County Water Resource Services is moving ahead as quickly as possible to build a temporary pipeline at Comanche Avenue between Hanley Road and Saltwater Creek. It is expected that the bypass will be in place within two weeks.

This is the fourth major break along the 750-foot section of the pipeline since Sept. 12, including a rupture on Wednesday.

Staff from a nearby church reported the break at 11:40 a.m. today. The flow from the 20-inch line was stopped at 1:40 p.m.

Crews from Spectrum Underground, the private contractor which built the nine-month-old line, are on site to make the repairs.

Until the temporary line is completed, there will be someone posted along Comanche Avenue around the clock in case there are additional breaks.

Parking will be prohibited along the north side of the dead-end street, over where the problem pipeline is buried, and other local traffic will be limited. A sports utility vehicle was damaged in Saturday's incident when the ground beneath the parked vehicle gave way.

As in the previous incidents, today's break has spilled sewage into nearby Sweetwater Creek.

Residents along the creek, which flows south to the Courtney Campbell Causeway area, are urged not to fish or have any contact with the water in the creek or the area where it flows into the bay, for the next several days.

A comprehensive investigation into the cause of the breaks will continue.