RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — Riviera Beach still hasn’t broken ground on the city’s new water treatment plant, which officials consider essential to solving years of systemic issues within the city’s water utility.
The lack of progress is notable after city officials promised state lawmakers it would begin construction on June 2, in a request for funding from the state. It’s the second time the city has missed a deadline for starting construction on the project, as a sign used to sit on the lot advertising construction to start in January 2022.
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A city spokesperson said construction is now scheduled to start at the plant in fall 2025, and have substantial completion by spring 2029.
There are crews working at the site, however, they are building a well for the utility system.
Records show the city is facing more than $1.2 million in fines from the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County after an investigation found evidence the city violated water quality regulations more than 100 times. Those regulations included not reporting contamination results and fabricating test results.
Antwone Jones, who owns a propane gas company in Riviera Beach, said the city’s history of water quality issues had led him using bottled water rather than tap water. He said he doesn’t even let his daughter drink the tap water.
“We definitely stick with bottled water,” Jones told WPTV’s Ethan Stein. “Just the water and the fears about it being contaminated, it’s scary. So we try to stick with bottled water at all times.”
Repeatedly, elected officials and city administration have blamed the city’s current water treatment plant for problems with the city’s water. They have proposed and promoted building a new water treatment plant, located on Avenue L and Blue Heron Boulevard, as a solution.
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Originally, the project was supposed to cost about $150 million. The price of the plant, according to Haskell and CDM Smith, is now around $400 million. Their last update to council said they have completed at least 90% of the plant’s design and are responding to comments from a city-paid consultant about the plant.
Records show Riviera Beach is also spending millions on creating new wells and repairing wells across the utility district, which serves Riviera Beach and surrounding areas.
