Update 2018-12-18:
And a Florida Department of Health warning.
This is the first Valdosta spill press release that mentions
the proposed additional catch basin.
It still doesn’t acknowledge the other 13 spill locations from last time,
nor does it say
which, if any,
of the previous spills was finally stopped.
I have requested an update from GA-EPD for what reports they have received,
and I’ll post their response tomorrow.
Meanwhile, you can
sign the petition to ask GA-EPD to tell everyone when anyone spills.
Received 3:13 PM, Valdosta PR 17 December 2018,
Weekend Storm Results in Sewer Overflow,
Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS, of one of four processing units, during
WWTP tour, 3 October 2018.
During the past two weeks, The City of Valdosta and surrounding
areas have received a combined total of 15 inches of rain during
several storm events. Included in that total is the 3 to 4 inches of
rain that Valdosta received over the weekend. During the most recent
weekend rain event, city infrastructure operated as designed. While
the WWTP has a normal average daily flow of 3.5 million gallons
(MG), this past weekend, the influent flow peaked at more than 22
MG—nearly seven times the normal rate. As a result of recent
rainfall totals into the plant, the structures were overwhelmed. The
current system has four processing units, although during normal
operations the system only requires one. During this storm event,
the Withlacoochee Plant was running all four units plus the excess
flow equalization basin.
Additionally, the city is working with the
Georgia Environmental Protection Division to design and install
additional storage capacity at the facility.
On December 15 and 16, the City of Valdosta’s Withlacoochee
Wastewater Treatment Plant identified intermittent sewage spills.
The spill was caused by Continue reading →
