An estimated 2,000 gallons of liquid chlorine, enough to fill about 40 average bathtubs, escaped a containment area at Lehigh Acres’ wastewater treatment plant in Lee County Sept. 18 and reached adjacent grounds, according to a report filed with state regulators.
Although utility officials said the spill didn’t reach nearby storm drains or waterways, whether Southwest Florida’s sandy, porous soil allowed contamination of the shallow or surficial aquifer is unclear. Neither the Florida Department of Environmental Protection nor the utility responded immediately to questions about how deeply the chlorine may have penetrated the soil.
“Too many loose variables,” said Calusa Waterkeeper Emeritus John Cassani, who said the spill’s duration and concentration in the soil would need to be factored in to be sure, “At a minimum it would likely sterilize the upper levels of soil contacted,” he wrote in an email, “but (it’s) hard to be specific.”
Lehigh Acres chlorine spill: what happened and when?
About 8 a.m. Sept. 18, a manager at the community’s wastewater treatment plant discovered the discharge and reported it at the facility at 550 Construction Lane, just off Lee Boulevard, between the Lehigh Acres Hospital and the Lehigh Acres Park…