For weeks or possibly months, an odd odor has been wafting through the Carillon Lakes neighborhood in southwest Lakeland, with some saying it smelled like a natural gas leak.
On Monday, a Florida Department of Environmental Protection drone flew over the area and officials spotted the possible cause: a wastewater force main pipe break in a remote wetland about 1,500 feet northeast of 5001 Gateway Blvd. The swampy area borders the western edge of Carillon Lakes, a gated community with 650 townhomes and single-family homes, which start at $365,000.
“At this time, the spill is believed to be on approximately 100 acres owned by the City of Lakeland,” an FDEP press release stated. “At this time the City does not have an exact estimate of how much wastewater has been released but it is likely in excess of 1,000 gallons as reported to the FDEP.”
FDEP and city spokesman Kevin Cook said the area is remote, heavily wooded and marshy. Cook said city officials had to use a bush hog — a piece of heavy machinery used for clearing land — to reach the site of the spill.
“Our contractor has brought in heavy equipment to clear a path for the bypass operation and is still on course to have the bypass in place sometime tomorrow evening,” Cook wrote in an email to LkldNow. “At that point we will begin to de-water the area so that we can get down to the force main to determine the cause and make the repair. All surface water and groundwater from this operation will be put into the collection system and sent to the Glendale treatment plant for disposal.”
FDEP and the city said a multi-agency effort has been looking for the source for weeks, which led to the discovery of the wastewater force main break. The city is working with FDEP and other agencies including the Florida Department of Health on this spill and any remediation actions that will be required.
Neighbor Russell Delaney, who lives on Songbird Lane, wrote to the City Commission on April 7, saying “the situation in our community has become unbearable” and asked for help to solve the mystery stench, fearing possible long-term health repercussions. He said the Polk County Fire Department had been called numerous times.
“People in the Carillon Lakes community are getting headaches and nausea simply from going outside and the smell is so strong now at times that it is getting into homes,” Delaney wrote.
Delaney, wife Cheryl and their greyhound Kimmy share a home overlooking a lake and scrub area. They entertained friends from up north recently and he said they couldn’t enjoy the mild temperatures outside on any of their three porches, closing up the house because of the smell.
“I’m relieved, quite honestly,” Delaney said Tuesday afternoon. “I didn’t think we’d ever find the source because it was so elusive. It was like Bigfoot.”
He credited city officials for working hard on the issue.
“A lot of folks liked to say no one was doing anything, but you could tell behind the scenes they were working hard,” said Delaney, who retired after 30 years from Delta Airlines.
Delaney said the smell really started back in the fall, but it would come and go and no one could track the source. Some, including him, thought it might be Aqua Clean, a local company that provides wastewater treatment, disposal, and removal of petroleum-contaminated water. The company denied any improper disposal or connection to the leak. Even Delaney said he would drive by their offices when the smell arose and it would be closed, with no employees present or doing any work.
Cook said city officials don’t believe there is any kind of health hazard to neighbors, but are working with the Polk County Health Department to ensure neighbors’ safety.
Tuesday afternoon, workers operating heavy equipment at the intersection of Gateway Boulevard and Whitten Road were laying temporary pipe in advance of Wednesday’s work. The stench from the pipe break could be smelled when the wind blew in from the east.
Aerial footage from 10 Tampa Bay:
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