City of Largo - Lawsuit and Settlement

A coalition of citizen groups—Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, Suncoast Waterkeeper, and Our Children’s Earth Foundation — have reached a settlement with the City to address wastewater infrastructure problems that have contributed to bacteria contamination and led to consistent nutrient pollution during recent years. (Click here for the full press release or download a PDF of the lawsuit.)

As a result of the lawsuit and settlement the City of Largo has agreed to reduce its nitrogen loading into Old Tampa Bay by:

• Completing construction of its $53 million Biological Treatment Improvements Project at its wastewater treatment plant by Oct. 25, 2022

•  Accelerating its $4 million yearly average commitment, and expand its efforts to upgrade and improve the City’s wastewater collection and treatment systems to reduce stormwater inflow and infiltration as well as sewer overflows.

• Reducing the concentration of Dichlorobromomethane that discharges into Old Tampa Bay as soon as possible by completing its planned Disinfection System Project at its wastewater treatment plant by December 31, 2024.

The city also agreed that the corrections to the wastewater treatment and connection system and the completion of the disinfection system will take place no later than October 25, 2022.

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These measures will reduce pollution to local waterways, increase the resilience of the City’s environmental infrastructure, address excess nitrogen, while also reducing the risk of sewer overflows throughout the city. In addition to the work focused on upgrading and improving its sewage infrastructure, the City will also support local ecosystem restoration efforts via a contribution of $100,000 to the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, to support projects in Old Tampa Bay for nutrient reduction, habitat restoration, and water quality monitoring or improvements.