Haines City ordered by FDEP to complete wastewater improvement projects to prevent future spills

HAINES CITY – The state is ordering Haines City to fix its wastewater system to prevent spills.

June 30 is the deadline the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has given Haines City to have construction completed for the first of its newest RIB, or rapid infiltration basins.

“The RIBs are going to be the largest benefit that Haines City’s going to experience. It's going to give us somewhere to send the reclaim water. So, we don’t have to open up the valve and go into the existing ditch,” said James Keene, Haines City public services administrator.

Keene said this is one of four major wastewater improvement projects the FDEP is ordering the City to complete by the end of this year. The city has recently completed the construction of a three-million-gallon ground storage tank for its reclaimed water.