Video shows City of St. Pete dumping loads of murky water into canal
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**ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ** - A City of St. Petersburg utility crew was recorded dumping murky water into a canal that feeds into the Riviera Bay on Friday morning. Chris Powers took the two-minute video while staying at a friend's home, across from the city-owned Sunlit Cove Boat Ramp.
"Anybody in their right mind would look at that and go, 'That's not supposed to be happening'," he said. "The video shows it all you know. It's just disgusting. There's fertilizers, there's probably dog waste, there's probably car oils. " The video shows a utility crew backing up to the boat ramp and, for several seconds, dumping dark-colored water into the canal.
"I saw them four or five times on Thursday, two times yesterday [Friday]," he said. "The second time I got the video of them backing this big truck in here. " Powers has lived in the community for 40 years and said it's where he raised his three daughters. He said, "I wouldn't let my kids swim in the water right now. I surely wouldn't eat a fish out of here right now.
" He said he fears for the area's water quality. "I'm sure the city has properties where they can discharge that water and let the earth naturally filter it and that was not happening. They were destroying what we have.