DE Town Pumps 5+ Million Gallons Of Raw Sewage Into Nanticoke River System

[hatrack]

Workers in Laurel have pumped more than 5.6 million gallons of raw and partially treated sewage into Broad Creek since Saturday under an emergency permit state officials said was approved to head off the collapse of an aging sewage lagoon.

Kevin C. Donnelly, water resources director for Delaware's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said late Monday his agency is still reviewing the amount of pollution sent into the creek, with Maryland officials to be briefed later this week.

Broad Creek drains into the Nanticoke River, which empties into the Chesapeake Bay. All three waterways suffer from wastewater pollution. Broad Creek and the Nanticoke have been targeted for cleanup programs under a consent degree that settled a federal pollution-control lawsuit.

Donnelly said he approved the emergency sewage discharges late Saturday after untreated wastes began oozing over the top of a 13 million-gallon lagoon in Laurel. The problem developed earlier in the day, after a 3-inch rainfall and a still unexplained surge in flows to the town's plant. "It was to try to eliminate any chance that there would be a catastrophic failure in lagoon No. 3, which would have resulted in the complete discharge of about 13 million gallons," Donnelly said Monday."

EDIT

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/11/16laurelpumpsitss.html

[sui generis]

1. that was me - I had some bad mexican food last week

/nt :evilgrin:

[Tree Hugger]

2. This is so frustrating

Why are we letting our domestic Water and Wastewater Treatment facilities degrade into nothing while we're contracting with Halliburton to build new state-of-the-art ones in Iraq?

This is my pet issue, y'all. When I become Senator, every town in America will have adequate Water and Wastewater Treatment capabilities. Compared to most things the US spends money on, this will be cheap!!