Sewage Spill Prompts No Swimming Advisory For Haulover Beach, Oleta River State Park
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Health department officials are telling people to stay out of the water in a section of northeastern Miami-Dade.
On Saturday, a mechanical failure at a pump station, located at 350 Sunny Isles Blvd., resulted in 720,000 gallons of wastewater going into a storm drain that led to the waterway.
A precautionary advisory has been posted to avoid recreational water activities including swimming, fishing, and boating.
The boundaries of the affected areas are Northeast 163 Street to the north, the Intracoastal to the east; the Haulover Inlet including the Haulover Beach and the mainland to the west.
Other affected beach areas include the Oleta River State Park beach and the beach located in the City of Bal Harbour just south of the Haulover Inlet.
At Oleta River State Park on Monday, visitors decided it was best to stay onshore.
"The water is so clear and just by looking at it we don't know what the problem is," said Andre Pouderier pointing to a sign stating no swimming or water activities. "We will respect the rules."
"Not going in the water, no. They said not to go. The two girls over there. They had their feet in the water, I told them to get out," said Collette Bolduc-Lesard.
"In the parking lot they said don't go in the water, it's contaminated," said Paolo Bagnoli who is visiting from Canada.
Loretta Spindafino, visiting from New York, got the same warning.
"We came for just three days to enjoy the water, we come here and he tells us we can't go it. It's spoiling the whole day enjoying the salt water," she said.
The advisory will remain in effect until two consecutive days of clear testing occur.
"We're advising until we have two days of testing, sampling of the water, that folks refrain from boating, swimming or any other kind of recreational activity that involves the water within those boundaries," said Jennifer Messemer-Skold with Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department.
