Riviera Beach utility workers discovered E.coli present in one of the city’s wells on June 27, but didn’t inform the public of the find until Jan. 19
Workers for a Florida utility district are in hot water after officials learned fecal bacteria was discovered in a city well — but the public wasn’t notified for seven months.
It happened in Riviera Beach, where utility workers discovered E. coli present in one of the city’s wells on June 27, but didn’t inform the public of the find until Jan. 19. Officials said there is no indication that drinking water was contaminated.
The utility district is required to notify the public within 24 hours of the discovery of E. coli but failed to do so. The district is also required by state and federal regulations to collect additional water samples, but did not, officials said.
Although the well was immediately taken out of service, the district should have issued a public notification and precautionary boil water notice, but also did not do that, according to officials.