VALDOSTA, Ga. -- Heavy weekend rains caused thousands of gallons in wastewater to spill into Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River in Valdosta.
The incident happened when stormwater from these rains entered the sanitary sewer collection system, overloading the collection and treatment system. As a result, sewer manholes overflowed at five points in the system and the Withlacoochee wastewater treatment facility discharged total suspended solids in excess of permit limits. The City is reporting the following major spills:
Two manholes located on the west bank of Sugar Creek near the Mediacom tower in the 1400 block of Gornto Road discharged into Sugar Creek. The estimated volume discharged is 20,000 gallons.
2. One manhole located on the east bank of Sugar Creek behind the residence in the 2400 block of Meadowbrook Drive overflowed into Sugar Creek. The estimated volume discharged is 360,000 gallons.
3. One manhole located on the west bank of Sugar Creek in the 1400 block of Gornto Road overflowed. The estimated volume discharged is 20,000 gallons.
4. One manhole located behind a residence in the 600 block of Scott Drive overflowed. The estimated volume discharged is 300,000 gallons.
5. One manhole located west of the Withlacoochee River on Highway 133 overflowed. The estimated volume of the discharge is 20,000 gallons.
6. The Withlacoochee sewage treatment plant discharged total suspended solids in excess of 1 ½ times the permitted maximum. This constitutes a “major spill” as defined by the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and by state law. The volume of the major spill is the total flow through the facility for March 23, 2013, which is 8,327,000 gallons.
Utilities Department staff will be cleaning overflow sites and performing stream sampling beginning today. Due to the possibility of high bacteria counts the public is advised to avoid contact with area steams, especially Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River, for the next seven days.
The City of Valdosta is attempting to fix the issues that cause spills at the Withlacoochee Plant, which include moving it a higher location. For more information about that project, visit valdostacity.com.
