PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Homeowners along Burnt Store Road in Charlotte County brought concerns to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, after a typically clear-water creek in the area turned murky.
According to FDEP, it received a complaint about the creek on March 28, and went to investigate the same day. FDEP traced the cloudy water to dewatering activities at a construction site on Zemel Road.
The agency said in an email that Deme Construction admitted a disgruntled employee erroneously routed a dewatering hose, which pumped water, dirt and sediment into the creek.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on the cloudy creek along Burnt Store Road:
FDEP said the company had already started to remediate the situation by the time an FDEP environmental consultant got to the site.
Deme Construction told Fox 4 the employee has been fired, and once the error was discovered, it worked to skim the silt out of the creek, restabilize the disturbed area, and there is no longer water leaving the site.
Still, people who live nearby noticed a dramatic change in the water’s appearance.
“It purely was a mess, it was polluted, it was like rust red water, and I know this canal and its not normally like that,” said Bob Stevens, who told Fox 4 a neighbor alerted him to the situation.
Several people living in Burnt Store Colony noticed the change as well, as the creek runs along the back of the community.
“We came out and looked at it and I thought oh my that's just disgusting,” said Dede Hedlund.
FDEP could not confirm whether the company would face any penalties for the incident. The creek is starting to clear, but Stevens and Hedlund agreed there should be consequences.
“Clearly the individual, if he did it with malice, he needs to be arrested and charged with an environmental crime,” said Stevens.
“Florida seems to be a place where people are conscious of the water quality, people having a total disregard for water quality is unfathomable,” said Hedlund.
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office stated it is not investigating the incident, and FDEP is the agency responsible for investigating.
