Power outage causes spill
BY ROBERT MOORE, Tribune Staff Writer
An estimated quarter-million gallons of untreated sewage "? more than enough to fill an Olympic-size pool to a depth of two feet "? spilled into Cherokee Lake from the Morristown wastewater treatment plant last week, city officials say.
Tisha Calabrese-Benton, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, said this morning that she could not speculate on the immediate environmental impact.
"But we would not expect to see a lingering problem from a one-time event," Calabrese-Benton said.
The untreated sewage spill, which is the largest in Morristown in at least 10 years, was caused by a freak accident, according to Brian Fowler, city director of wastewater operations.
Fowler said this morning that a sewer crew was clearing land for the new main Turkey Creek trunk line between Fairview-Marguerite Elementary School and the treatment plant when workers toppled a tree.
The tree downed an Appalachian Electric Co-Op power line. As it fell, it came in contact with a Morristown Utility Systems power line, which cut electrical service to the wastewater treatment plant.
When electrical service to the pumps inside and outside the treatment plant was interrupted, the raw sewage had no place to go except Cherokee Lake, according to Fowler.
The electrical feed to both systems was isolated in order to safely repair the damaged equipment.
The power to the wastewater treatment plant was cut on Tuesday from 11:10 a.m. until 12:40 p.m.
"We're looking at a way to separate the two feeds so this won't happen in the future," said Fowler, who says the Appalachian and MUS power lines run parallel for approximately 1,500 feet.
"Once the power is gone "? especially in the main lift station "? there's nothing we can do," he added. "The circulating pumps in the station aren't working. We can only hold it for so long. Once it reaches a point where we can't hold it any longer, it overflows."
The expense of restoring electrical service will fall to Herron Construction Company, whose workers felled the tree that cut interrupted electrical service, according to Fowler.
By this morning, he didn't have a dollar estimate.
Fowler says the largest previous raw sewage discharge he's aware of is approximately 200,000 gallons.
Bookmarks