Islamorada

Florida's lead environmental agency has told the Islamorada Village if Islands to correct the problems with the Plantation Key Colony sewer system or risk fines of up to $10,000 per violation per day. In a Monday warning issued by the Department of Environmental Protection, Director of District Management Jon M. Inglehart, lists four violations found during a Nov. 30 inspection of the system.

The violations included:

* An "unacceptable" failure rate of the vacuum collection system, resulting in sewage backups into residences.
* Lack of timely reporting of system failures.
* Improperly installed and not operating sewage flow meters.
* Disabled functions within the system's vacuum pump due to a malfunctioning sensor.

The Plantation Key Colony system, which comprises 420 homes, first went online in late June and has been plagued with problems ever since. The village has attempted to solve the problems with WPC Industrial and has talked about suing the contractor.

Village Manager Gary Word said he had been expecting the warning and welcomed it, saying it could help the village in discussions with WPC. "It brings a level of authority to bear that you have a government agency monitoring the situation," Word said.


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