Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Environmental Services Division

For Immediate Release						July 13,
2007

FAILED PUMP CONTROLS LEAD TO BYPASS REACHING OTTUMWA OXBOW LAKE

MEDIA CONTACT: Karen Grimes at (515) 281-5135

OTTUMWA -- Residents are being asked to avoid contact with Ottumwa
Oxbow Lake, locally known as the Ottumwa Lagoon, after approximately
360,000 gallons of untreated wastewater entered the lake Thursday into
Friday morning.

Routine checks Friday morning found pumps were not running during the
past 24 hours at the Richmond Pump Station. These pumps usually run
about six hours per day and send sewage to Ottumwa's wastewater
treatment plant for treatment. Instead of entering the treatment plant,
the failed pumps caused raw sewage to overflow into the lagoon.

The city's automatic notification system also failed so plant staff
was not alerted to the ongoing discharge. The city fixed the problem
early Friday morning, stopping the overflow to the lagoon.

The pump station is on a combined sewer system, where the sanitary and
storm sewers share the same pipes, mixing waste from homes and
businesses with rain and runoff.

“Usually discharges from combined sewers occur when it’s raining
and are diluted. It was not raining today so there was no dilution, thus
this was a stronger concentration,” said Paul Brandt, an environmental
specialist at the DNR field office in Washington. “We are recommending
people should avoid contact with the lagoon.”

The Environmental Protection Agency has identified the environmental
problems associated with combined sewer overflows as one of its national
priorities. Discharges from combined sewer overflows can expose people
to high levels of bacteria and potential pathogens, threaten aquatic
life and its habitat and impair the use and enjoyment of waterways.

The city is presently doing a large sewer separation project around its
south side which will eliminate the combined sewers.

There are nine Iowa cities, including Ottumwa, that have combined sewer
systems.

Writer: Holly Williams
-30-

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