'They should have told everybody': Riviera Beach water scandal raises health concerns Residents of the city of Riviera Beach are voicing concerns after a recent investigation accuses city employees of falsifying reports to conceal water quality concerns.The Palm Beach County office of the inspector general released a 112 page-long report, listing allegations of 130 occasions in 2023 when water quality testing was not reported properly.WPBF 25 News spoke with residents on the issue. One of them being Danny O'Neal who said he feels blindsided."They should have told everybody to warn everybody when this first start happened. Don't wait no three and four months, six months later, and come to the public and say, hey, you can't drink the water. People been drinking the water," O'Neal said.He said he doesn't understand why the employees wouldn't disclose information that could impact people's health."I should be able to drink my water, shower with it, do whatever I want to do with it," he said. "But they never told me nothing about it until after the fact, when it was several months ago, and it was already an issue."Mirna Elvir, an employee at the Rose Bowl in Riviera Beach, said she agrees."I honestly had no idea that's been happening in our community, and that's very concerning," she added.While the Rose Bowl doesn't use the city's water, O'Neal said he does and now fears any help impacts."I kept drinking it. And I'm still drinking it now, and I'm feeling some kind of way," he said. The PBC office of the inspector general report notes that after a water sample in 2023 tested positive for E. coli, not only did the city fail to retest properly, employees altered test results and "submitted false, altered, and/or misleading test results to the (Florida Department of Health," which led to some city wells being "improperly reactivated for use as part of the City's drinking water system."To better understand how E. coli impacts the human body, WPBF 25 News spoke with an expert on the topic.Dr. Leslie Diaz is the Infectious Disease Chair for the Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. "We all live with E. coli. The strains of E. coli that we have are symbiotically living with us in our intestinal flora, in the colon mostly, and it's the number one bacteria that is found in the colonic flora," she explained.However, Diaz said there's several strains and some are toxic to humans. "The strains that are pathogenic to humans are the shiga toxin E. coli, which produces a toxin that can make people very sick with gastrointestinal symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain," she said. "And it can produce a syndrome called HUS, a certain subtype of the shiga toxin E. coli, that is the O157."She said that syndrome, hemolytic uremic syndrome, causes renal failure and has a high mortality rate. "It can be very dangerous. Most individuals, though, do recover from the pathogenic E. coli that you can get from foods," Diaz added.She said there's a few things people can look for if they suspect they've consumed food or water contaminated with E. coli."Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea," Diaz said. "If the diarrhea becomes bloody, that is the one that is most commonly the O157, which can move on to cause a hemolytic uremic syndrome, and that's called enterohemorrhagic E. coli or shiga-like toxin E. coli."She said if that happens, it's important to seek medical attention.Even if food or water that has been contaminated is consumed, Diaz said that doesn't mean someone will have symptoms."Some people will not necessarily show any, and that has to do with the load of bacteria that you receive. Not all loads cause infection or symptoms. So it depends on the load," she explained.If severe symptoms do show, she said it's typically within days of consumption."It usually happens within three to five days of ingesting the food, and it can be very severe. Like I said before, you can get a very bad syndrome that can cause significant symptoms of multi-organ failure and system failures that can bring you to a very high mortality," she said.Once infected, she said the toxins can linger in the body."Even when your diarrhea stops, you can still be a carrier and have the potential of transmitting the toxin. Some studies say up to a month, some studies say up to two weeks. I would, to be on the safe side, I would tell you two to four weeks is a correct amount," Diaz said.To prevent spreading the toxin through what she calls the fecal-oral route, Diaz said it's important for people to wash their hands and surfaces often. Diaz said the tricky thing about E. coli is that it's hard to track down what you ate or drank that caused the infection. However, since cases are logged and reported, she said the Florida Department of Health works to track down the source of contamination."They're very good at doing that, making phone calls, tracking the source down. and so the epidemiology department of the health department has always, at least for Palm Beach County, done an excellent job to try to track that down and if there is a source, they will track it down," she added.She said there's a few things people can do to prevent consuming the bacteria."I think that it is important to wash all your vegetables. I think that is the number one source of entry that you can have control over. Even if it's organic, just wash them and triple wash them, let them soak," Diaz said. "As far as eating meat, I never eat meat that's not well done."Diaz said there's no way of knowing if something is contaminated as water will remain clear and food won't present any signs.The Florida Department of Health and CDC have a list of resources to learn more about E.coli and contamination.Top headlines:Stay up-to-date: The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25 Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.
Residents of the city of Riviera Beach are voicing concerns after a recent investigation accuses city employees of falsifying reports to conceal water quality concerns.
The Palm Beach County office of th e inspector general released a 112 page- long report, listing allegations of 130 occasions in 2023 when water quality testing was not reported properly.
WPBF 25 News spoke with residents on the issue. One of them being Danny O'Neal who said he feels blindsided.
"They should have told everybody to warn everybody when this first start happened. Don't wait no three and four months, six months later, and come to the public and say, hey, you can't drink the water. People been drinking the water," O'Neal said.
He said he doesn't understand why the employees wouldn't disclose information that could impact people's health.
"I should be able to drink my water, shower with it, do whatever I want to do with it," he said. "But they never told me nothing about it until after the fact, when it was several months ago, and it was already an issue."
Mirna Elvir, an employee at the Rose Bowl in Riviera Beach, said she agrees.
"I honestly had no idea that's been happening in our community, and that's very concerning," she added.
While the Rose Bowl doesn't use the city's water, O'Neal said he does and now fears any help impacts.
"I kept drinking it. And I'm still drinking it now, and I'm feeling some kind of way," he said. The PBC office of the inspector general report notes that after a water sample in 2023 tested positive for E. coli, not only did the city fail to retest properly, employees altered test results and "submitted false, altered, and/or misleading test results to the (Florida Department of Health," which led to some city wells being "improperly reactivated for use as part of the City's drinking water system."
To better understand how E. coli impacts the human body, WPBF 25 News spoke with an expert on the topic.
Dr. Leslie Diaz is the Infectious Disease Chair for the Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. "We all live with E. coli. The strains of E. coli that we have are symbiotically living with us in our intestinal flora, in the colon mostly, and it's the number one bacteria that is found in the colonic flora," she explained.
However, Diaz said there's several strains and some are toxic to humans. "The strains that are pathogenic to humans are the shiga toxin E. coli, which produces a toxin that can make people very sick with gastrointestinal symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain," she said. "And it can produce a syndrome called HUS, a certain subtype of the shiga toxin E. coli, that is the O157."
She said that syndrome, hemolytic uremic syndrome, causes renal failure and has a high mortality rate.
"It can be very dangerous. Most individuals, though, do recover from the pathogenic E. coli that you can get from foods," Diaz added.
She said there's a few things people can look for if they suspect they've consumed food or water contaminated with E. coli.
"Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea," Diaz said. "If the diarrhea becomes bloody, that is the one that is most commonly the O157, which can move on to cause a hemolytic uremic syndrome, and that's called enterohemorrhagic E. coli or shiga-like toxin E. coli."
She said if that happens, it's important to seek medical attention.
Even if food or water that has been contaminated is consumed, Diaz said that doesn't mean someone will have symptoms.
"Some people will not necessarily show any, and that has to do with the load of bacteria that you receive. Not all loads cause infection or symptoms. So it depends on the load," she explained.
If severe symptoms do show, she said it's typically within days of consumption.
"It usually happens within three to five days of ingesting the food, and it can be very severe. Like I said before, you can get a very bad syndrome that can cause significant symptoms of multi-organ failure and system failures that can bring you to a very high mortality," she said.
Once infected, she said the toxins can linger in the body.
"Even when your diarrhea stops, you can still be a carrier and have the potential of transmitting the toxin. Some studies say up to a month, some studies say up to two weeks. I would, to be on the safe side, I would tell you two to four weeks is a correct amount," Diaz said.
To prevent spreading the toxin through what she calls the fecal-oral route, Diaz said it's important for people to wash their hands and surfaces often. Diaz said the tricky thing about E. coli is that it's hard to track down what you ate or drank that caused the infection. However, since cases are logged and reported, she said the Florida Department of Health works to track down the source of contamination.
"They're very good at doing that, making phone calls, tracking the source down. and so the epidemiology department of the health department has always, at least for Palm Beach County, done an excellent job to try to track that down and if there is a source, they will track it down," she added.
She said there's a few things people can do to prevent consuming the bacteria.
"I think that it is important to wash all your vegetables. I think that is the number one source of entry that you can have control over. Even if it's organic, just wash them and triple wash them, let them soak," Diaz said. "As far as eating meat, I never eat meat that's not well done."
Diaz said there's no way of knowing if something is contaminated as water will remain clear and food won't present any signs.
The Florida Department of Health and CDC have a list of resources to learn more about E.coli and contamination.
