Wastewater plant in city overflows
Last Updated on 12/1/2008
Published on 9/2/2008
By Tommy Howard
thoward@gtowntimes.com
Lane Mixon, water utilities manager for the City of Georgetown, told the Georgetown Times late Tuesday afternoon that the wastewater treatment plant lost power Monday. As a result, some 164,000 gallons of sewage overflowed at the plant Tuesday morning and ran off into Whites Creek.
Mixon and his staff notified the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) in Columbia.
City staff responded to the spill and completed clean-up activities. Mixon said a crew went into Whites Creek during the day Tuesday and took samples for fecal coliform. It's a 24-hour test, he explained, so results of any possible contamination won't be known until sometime Wednesday.
While 164,000 gallons of sewage is a lot, Mixon said, the daily volume of wastewater that is treated is about 3.5 million gallons. That's about 4.6 percent of the total volume that overflowed into Whites Creek.
That body of water flows near Georgetown High School, crosses U.S. Highway 521 at the western city limits, then goes by the Wastewater Treatment Facility on Ridge Street, past the International Paper Co. and on to the Sampit River.
"It was not a 'surge' or 'slug'," Mixon said. "It was basically a slow trickle over the dike of the pond."
Power went out at the wastewater plant about noon Monday. By 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, the wastewater started overflowing and continued until about 7 a.m. when staff arrived for work.
The overflow went into a stormwater ditch and wetlands, he said.
A telephone system that is supposed to automatically notify the person on call did not function, Mixon told the Times. He said he and his staff were unable to reach the proper person with the company providing that notification service Tuesday to find out what the problem was, but he would continue that effort on Wednesday.
Any time there is a spillage of more than 500 gallons, Mixon said, the city has to notify DHEC.
In a prepared statement, Mixon said: "Sanitary sewer overflows can occur whenever a sewer collection line is damaged, becomes clogged, or surcharges due to heavy rains. Urban streams and rivers are especially susceptible due to their proximity to sewer collection systems. The presence of pollutants, especially fecal coliform, is always a potential in urban streams and rivers.
"The public is advised to avoid contact with waters around and downstream of Whites Creek until further notice. For more information, please contact the City of Georgetown Water Utility Department at 843-545-4500."
Mixon said the sewer spill "Has no effect on drinking water."
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This is especially bad for those where the sewer dumps into Whites creek, as during rainey times the water backs up into people's back yards mainly because of the unaurthorized concrete pipes put into the canal so the horses can go over the canal to the trails beyond in the woods. The pipes plug do trash and debree and their small size causing a daming effect. This does back water all the way up to the output pipe of the sewer plant. Posted by James Hutchinson on 9/4/2008
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Oh no! This is the same area in which our City Leader, or lack thereof, Lynn Wood Wilson resides. Oh well, stuff happens! Posted by Oh No on 9/4/2008
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The administrator has been fired or he hasn't. If he has been fired, it is the mayor's responsibility to run the city until a replacement is hired by council. If, as suggested by "not surprised", there is some agreement for the present administrator to be around during the search for a replacement, an obvious question arises. Why? Is the mayor under some disability that prevents him from fulfilling the responsibilities that go with his title? Why not an interim administrator recommended by the Municipal Association? Council needs to clear the air by entertaining a motion expressing council's confidence in the administrator. Discussion preceding a vote on that motion would make clear what is happening here. Posted by Machiavelli on 9/3/2008
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Does HTC provides phone service to the city. This is a serious malfunction by the emergency notification system. Why were residents in the area not notified. This is the SECOND time within one week that a major problem happended regarding the phone system. The previous was the phones and internet were out all day on the day of the last coucil meeting.Could there possibly be some real problem here. Posted by gtown resident/char on 9/3/2008
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Why weren't we notified immediately! This is just plain poor management! Each resident in the area had/has the right to be notified. Come on guys, you need to do better than this! I guess we don't matter since we don't actually live in the "CITY" of Georgetown? Posted by Whites Creek Resident on 9/3/2008
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Add the anticipated cost of the probable DHEC fine to the list of unbudgeted expenses and attorney fees that City residents can look forward to paying long after our beleaguered City Administrator is gone. It seems that all of the City's woes lately have been attributed to lack of phone service. Poor management is a more accurate explanation. And our City Council wants to keep this guy around long enough to "train" his successor? Unbelieveable! Posted by Not Surprised on 9/3/2008
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