Glory Reitz
A week after a sinkhole opened up at the city of Newberry’s wastewater treatment facility, repairs are nearing completion.
Last week, Newberry utility personnel noticed that a sinkhole had opened up beneath a holding pond at the city’s wastewater treatment facility. The sinkhole compromised the pond’s lining and let an estimated 500,000 gallons of treated wastewater into the ground but it has not affected the treatment facility’s operation.
City Manager Mike New said sinkholes are common because of the soil types in the area, and that the city deals with several each year, generally after heavy rainfall. At the wastewater treatment facility, where holding ponds are heavy above chimneys in the soft ground, the city has seen two other sinkholes in the last 25 years.
The released water had already been treated, but the city still notified the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in accordance with state regulations. The Alachua County Department of Health (DOH) began taking samples from potable water wells within a quarter mile of the breach.
Among other parameters, the Alachua County DOH looked for increased concentrations of coliform bacteria as an indication of wastewater in the groundwater. New said the tests look for total coliform and fecal coliform, the first of which is an indicator of environmental bacteria and the second, an indicator of human waste.
New said of the six wells within the quarter-mile radius, only sample one came back positive for total coliform, and none for fecal coliform.
“It is not uncommon for us to find total coliform the first time we sample wells that are more than 20 years old,” New said in an interview.
The city hired Coleman Construction under emergency procedure, a company unrelated to Newberry Commissioner Rick Coleman, to repair the sinkhole, liner and holding pond. New said he expects the repairs to be finished by the end of the week.
New said that while the fallout of the sinkhole did damage some of the surrounding structures, with a total estimated repair cost of about $100,000, the claim appears to be insurable.
The city is currently planning an expansion to its wastewater treatment facility, with a state-set due date in March 2026. New said though the area is prone to sinkholes, the city will guard against them by over-excavating the site, compacting the ground, then adding back five feet, also compacted.
New announced in Monday night’s regular commission meeting that he will be following up with the state on a $50 million wastewater grant for which the city has been invited to apply.
“I don’t have any idea what the review timeframe is, but that would be a significant feat for the city to secure 50 million in grant funding for that wastewater plant transplant project that we have going,” New told the Newberry City Commission.