Originally published in Fort Myers News-Press by Charlie Whitehead on May 30, 2026
The city had replaced the 50-year-old collection lines in the ground as part of ongoing system upgrades beginning in 2007. All the homes on Hanover were connected to the new lines and the old lines were capped.
All the homes but one.
It took a while, but the plumber the Goldsteins hired discovered that their home had never been connected to the new lines. Instead the main drain from the home remained hooked to the old line.
The old line was capped. The sewage from the house had nowhere to go, except into the downstairs bathtub and the bathroom and laundry room floors.
…
Did sewage reach Winkler Canal?
John Cassani, Waterkeeper Emeritus for Calusa Waterkeeper, said it’s hard to know what effect 13 years of not being connected to the collection system might have had on groundwater.
“Hard to say where their effluent went,” he said.
The sewage likely would have filled up the capped line, Cassani said, but the lines were replaced for good reason, and it’s likely the sewage leaked out of the old line.
“I suspect the sewer line was abandoned due to leaks or breeches and if so that would have contaminated shallow groundwater,” he said. “Shallow groundwater can transfer pollutants to surface water.”
City Utilities are currently operating under a Consent Order with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the city has spent literally hundreds of millions of dollars on improvements.
The Winkler Canal is less than two blocks – under a half-mile – from the Goldsteins’ home. Waterkeeper board secretary Jason Pim said the canal is “impaired” by pollution from fecal indicator bacteria, as are many Fort Myers waterways.
“This sounds like an isolated accident,” Pim said. “But is indicative of the problem of aging and inadequate infrastructure (a problem in Fort Myers and many Florida cities). Imagine many small leaks that are hard to detect, potentially contributing to broader contamination of groundwater and surface waters. Pollution that enters the groundwater is hard to trace, essentially becoming a non-point pollution source.”
Original Story