Officials with the Gainesville Water Resources Department report that a weekend sewer spill at Flat Creek Water Reclamation Facility has been resolved.
A statement sent this afternoon by the City of Gainesville said that facility operators noticed that the overwhelmed facility pumps were not working around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday. The failure was a result of nearly 5 inches of rain at the facility between Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
A temporary pump and tanker hauling was immediately used, with another two temporary pumps added by Monday morning. In the meantime, it is estimated that Flat Creek and surrounding manholes were impacted for about two miles upstream from Lake Lanier. Fortunately by Monday morning at 10 a.m. the issue was resolved and no more overflows were reported.
Although DWR estimates that over 2 million gallons of raw sewage overflowed into Flat Creek, no aquatic life seems to have been impacted and water quality is within state standards.
“We wanted to let the public know about this spill and our ongoing efforts to restore full operations,” said DWR Director Linda MacGregor. “Due to the magnitude of this event, it took our staff several hours just to be able to access the flooded pump station and surrounding area to assess the problem and begin the appropriate corrective actions.”
The temporary pumps will be used until facility equipment can be repaired. The Georgia Environmental Protection Divison has been alerted to the issue and required signs have been posted.
For more information, contact Linda MacGregor at 770-538-2400.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2020/10/946580/weekend-sewer-spill-at-flat-creek-resolved