VALDOSTA —
The City of Valdosta filed a report with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) with the total number of gallons of wastewater spilled in recent weeks.
From Feb. 21 to March 4, a total of 15 major spills resulted in nearly 45 million gallons of treated and untreated wastewater being released into waterways from the city’s sewage system.
One spill was caused by a grease blockage, three due to hydraulic overloads, and the remainder were due to the amount of rain received over a three day period.
According to the report, affected rivers include Knights Creek, Cherry Creek, Sugar Creek, One Mile Branch, Two Mile Branch, Dukes Bay Canal and the Withlacoochee River.
More than 2 million gallons of untreated raw sewage spilled into Sugar Creek from locations on Scott and Meadowbrook Drives, with an additional 989,759 gallons spilled from a second location on Meadowbrook into Two Mile Branch.
From the Withlacoochee wastewater treatment plant on Wetherington Lane, 5 million gallons of raw sewage and an additional 40 million gallons of partially treated and untreated wastewater spilled into the river over a three day period.
Marzieh Shahbazaz of the Georgia EPD stated that the agency met with city officials last week and will decide what course of action to take following a review. “If a consent order becomes necessary, it will take about two months to become public,” Shahbazaz stated.
The plant was taken offline on Feb. 28 and returned to normal operations on March 3, according to the City.
The city council discussed a plan of action at their retreat this weekend to address the ongoing problems with the city’s sewage system and the relocation of the treatment plant.
Local News
Related Photos
-
The City of Valdosta filed a report with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) with the total number of gallons of wastewater spilled in recent weeks.
Discussion
City releases totals from spills
- Local News
-
-
VECA recognized at VSU
Rising juniors from the Valdosta Early College Academy (VECA) were recognized at Valdosta State University Wednesday night as the first group of students to begin earning college credit while still in high school.
-
Businesses raise funds for Oklahoma disaster
By now, we’ve all heard about the tragedy in Moore, Okla., a mile-wide, F5 tornado with winds of more than 200 miles per hour carved through 17 miles over a span of 50 minutes on Monday afternoon.
-
Southwestern State Hospital to close
One of Thomas County’s largest employers — at more than 700 people — and a longtime regional state mental hospital will close Dec. 31.
-
Search for survivors continues
Helmeted rescue workers raced Tuesday to complete the search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb where a mammoth tornado destroyed countless homes, cleared lots down to bare red earth and claimed 24 lives, including those of nine children.
-
Curator offers arts a helping hand
If you’ve been to the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts in the past four years, you have seen the quiet art of Bill Shenton.
-
Albino gators visit Wild Adventures
Two rare albino American alligators have joined the other gators at Wild Adventures for the summer.
-
Officers wound man in shootout
A Lanier County man was wounded Saturday during an exchange of gunfire with lawmen, according to a Lanier County Sheriff’s Office press release.
-
Woman fights to live after cancer
To be whole again, the desire that sometimes overwhelms chair-bound Mandy Painter, fuels the Realtor each day through walking lessons during physical therapy and it's also what could see her through a cutting-edge program in Boston, where world-class neurologists can reawaken her cerebellum and see the mother of three to her feet again.
-
North Ashley Street closed following accident
A Sport Utility Vehicle traveling north on North Ashley Street drove into a telephone pole Monday morning, resulting in the closure of the road.
-
Gornto extension half complete
The Gornto Road extension project is more than half-way complete, and could be finished ahead of the one-year deadline contractors were given when the project was approved Oct. 11 by the Valdosta City Council.
- More Local News Headlines
-
