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http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Feb02/0,4670,SewageSpill,00.html
2.7M Gallons of Sewage Spill in SF Bay
Saturday, February 02, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO - An estimated 2.7 million gallons of partially treated
sewage and storm water has spilled into San Francisco Bay from a treatment
plant, authorities said.
The accidental release occurred Thursday night when rainwater overwhelmed
the facility and an emergency alarm system failed, Marin County officials
said Friday.
County health officials are warning the public to avoid fishing or touching
water in or around Richardson Bay, an arm of San Francisco Bay that
stretches between Tiburon and Sausalito.
Officials have posted signs warning of possible contamination at beaches and
waterfronts along Richardson Bay. They are also conducting tests near the
accident site to determine the extent of the spill and possible public
health issues.
The spill happened after a worker at the treatment plant failed to turn on
enough pumps to handle the amount of water flowing into the facility during
a storm, said Stephen Danehy of the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin. Staff
had gone home when the alarm was triggered around 4:30 p.m.
The emergency telephone notification service the facility uses for nighttime
alerts also failed, leaving a voicemail for an on-duty staffer, he said.
The problem wasn't discovered until an off-duty worker checked the
facility's status remotely on the Internet around 8 p.m., Danehy said. The
overflow was fixed a half-hour later.
The facility processes primarily residential wastewater for some 28,000
homes in southern Marin County.
Danehy said most of the wastewater that flooded into the bay has been
carried out by the tides, and that there will likely be little other cleanup
needed.
"In the grand scheme of things, 2 million gallons is a lot of water," he
said. "But going into the area where it drained into, it was a drop in the
bucket. And this was diluted and treated, to some degree."
2.7M Gallons of Sewage Spill in SF Bay
Saturday, February 02, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO - An estimated 2.7 million gallons of partially treated
sewage and storm water has spilled into San Francisco Bay from a treatment
plant, authorities said.
The accidental release occurred Thursday night when rainwater overwhelmed
the facility and an emergency alarm system failed, Marin County officials
said Friday.
County health officials are warning the public to avoid fishing or touching
water in or around Richardson Bay, an arm of San Francisco Bay that
stretches between Tiburon and Sausalito.
Officials have posted signs warning of possible contamination at beaches and
waterfronts along Richardson Bay. They are also conducting tests near the
accident site to determine the extent of the spill and possible public
health issues.
The spill happened after a worker at the treatment plant failed to turn on
enough pumps to handle the amount of water flowing into the facility during
a storm, said Stephen Danehy of the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin. Staff
had gone home when the alarm was triggered around 4:30 p.m.
The emergency telephone notification service the facility uses for nighttime
alerts also failed, leaving a voicemail for an on-duty staffer, he said.
The problem wasn't discovered until an off-duty worker checked the
facility's status remotely on the Internet around 8 p.m., Danehy said. The
overflow was fixed a half-hour later.
The facility processes primarily residential wastewater for some 28,000
homes in southern Marin County.
Danehy said most of the wastewater that flooded into the bay has been
carried out by the tides, and that there will likely be little other cleanup
needed.
"In the grand scheme of things, 2 million gallons is a lot of water," he
said. "But going into the area where it drained into, it was a drop in the
bucket. And this was diluted and treated, to some degree."
