Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Environmental Services Division

For Immediate Release                                                 
   August 20, 2007

HEAVY RAINFALL RESULTS IN NUMEROUS SEWAGE BYPASSES

MEDIA CONTACT: Kevin Baskins, DNR, at 515-281-8395.

DES MOINES — Heavy rain, particularly over northern regions of the
state during the weekend, has resulted in numerous overflows of sewage
treatment systems and at least one fish kill.

Rainfall as heavy as 10 inches was reported in Emmetsburg where the
city had bypassed more than 2.7 million gallons into a nearby creek by
noon Monday due to the system becoming overloaded.

Private well users in areas hard hit by heavy precipitation are being
urged to have their water tested, according to Ken Sharp, of the
Environmental Health Bureau for the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Run off due to excess rain can cause bacteria and other potential
contaminants to be washed into the well. Sharp encouraged anyone with
concerns about their well to contact their county public health
department about having the water tested.

While most people will be avoiding swollen streams due to the flooding,
citizens are still being urged by the DNR and Iowa Department of Public
Health to avoid flooded areas where bacteria levels could be high. Other
areas that should be avoided are where sewage pumping stations and
manholes from sewer systems are overflowing into the streets or on
property.

The heavy rainfall can also produce fish kills when pollutants are
washed into streams, lakes and ponds from run off.

The DNR has identified an open feedlot as the source of a fish kill in
the West Branch of the Floyd River about three miles southeast of Sioux
Center on Saturday. Heavy rains Friday and Saturday caused a solids
settling basin to overflow, washing manure solids and feedlot runoff
into a ditch that led to the river.

More than 200 dead fish were present below the feedlot, mainly creek
chubs, suckers and minnows. More dead fish had washed downstream. The
DNR is waiting for laboratory test results to confirm no other feedlot
is involved.

Heavy rain can overload wastewater collection systems, which are the
underground sewer pipes that carry sewage to a treatment plant. Aging or
poorly maintained sanitary sewer systems are particularly vulnerable to
influxes of storm water. With the sewage pipes overwhelmed, the excess
water has nowhere to go, and can backup into basements through floor
drains. Bypassing can lower the water level in the collection system,
keeping sewage from backing up into basements, which would present
health risks.

“While facilities should not have to bypass, sometimes nature gives
facilities more rain than they can handle,” Barb Lynch, head of the
DNR’s environmental field services.

According to DNR design standards for construction of new wastewater
treatment systems, facilities should be able to handle the amount of
water in the collection system from all three of these events happening
at the same time:
* Peak sewage flows from homes, businesses and industry
* Peak groundwater levels
* A storm that drops two inches of water in an hour.

While many collection systems in Iowa already have or are in the
process of upgrading their collection systems to handle these events,
many more need to upgrade.

The DNR tracks bypass reports submitted by facilities and follows up
with the facility to determine problems and help them upgrade their
systems, although it can be a long-term process. The DNR has also formed
a committee to discuss how it handles wet weather bypasses.

“Bypasses enter the streams and lakes that Iowans use for fishing,
swimming, boating and for drinking water. Because of this, and for the
fish and plants that live in the water, bypassing needs to be minimized
as much as possible,” said Lynch.

These types of situations can occur when large amounts of rainwater or
snowmelt, also called storm water, enter a sanitary sewer from cracks in
sewer pipes. Sewer system upgrades can fix cracked pipes and minimize
storm water entering the sanitary sewer system. However, like other
infrastructure upgrades, repairs are costly and often take years to
complete.

Storm water runoff can also enter the sanitary sewer through improper
connections, such as roof drains or sump pumps hooked up to the sanitary
sewer system instead of the storm water system. The storm water should
enter the storm sewer system and flow directly into a stream or lake.
When storm water enters the sanitary sewer system, the volume of water
can overwhelm the wastewater treatment system.

“Communities need to check for sources of storm water getting into
the system, and work with homes and businesses to disconnect storm water
sources from the sanitary sewer, as well as inspecting their sewage
pipes,” said Dennis Ostwinkle, head of the DNR’s Washington field
office and wastewater compliance coordinator.

Facilities are required to report bypasses caused by mechanical
failures to the DNR within 12 hours of onset or discovery. Facilities do
not have to immediately report bypasses from precipitation events, but
must include them in their monthly operating report to the DNR.

Precipitation-related environmental incidents that have been reported
to the DNR as of 2 p.m. Monday include:

Allamakee County
Postville: The City of Postville is bypassing from its wastewater
treatment plant and up to five lift stations. The ongoing bypass to
Williams Creek began at 6:15 Sunday morning.

Black Hawk County
Cedar Falls: The City of Cedar Falls is bypassing from its Park Drive
lift station to a wooded area at a rate of 1,000 gallons per hour. The
bypass began at 5 p.m. Sunday and will continue through Wednesday. The
city is also bypassing wastewater at a rate of 300 gallons per minute
from a detention basin at its treatment plant to the Cedar River.

Dunkerton: The City of Dunkerton bypassed an unknown amount of
wastewater from 6 p.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday to the Little
Wapsipinicon River.

Boone County
Boone: The City of Boone is bypassing to prevent wastewater from
backing up into basements. The city is pumping from manholes into Honey
Creek, a tributary of the Des Moines River.

Bremer County
Denver: The City of Denver is bypassing wastewater from a manhole on
Hoover Street to Quarter Section Run. The bypass began at 8 p.m. Sunday
and has discharged 250,000 gallons as of Monday morning.

Readlyn: The City of Readlyn bypassed an unknown amount of wastewater
from 6:30 p.m. Sunday to 6:00 a.m. Monday. The bypass took place at the
intersection of County Road V49 and First Street and discharged to an
unnamed tributary of the Wapsipinicon River.

Calhoun County
North Twin Lake: Twin Lakes Sanitary District is bypassing wastewater
into the southwest portion of North Twin Lake following a service
connection break. The district has dug holes to collect additional
wastewater before it reaches the lake. Contractors are working to repair
the connection.

Cerro Gordo County
Clear Lake: The City of Clear Lake bypassed about 100,000 gallons of
wastewater to Willow Creek from 6:30 p.m. Sunday to 1 a.m. Monday.

Mason City: The City of Mason City is currently bypassing wastewater
from two locations. The first bypass began at 1:30 p.m. Sunday and has
sent 46,500 gallons to the Winnebago River; while the other began at 1
a.m. Monday and has sent 162,000 gallons to Chelsea Creek.

Clayton County:
Garnavillo: The City of Garnavillo began bypassing Sunday from three
lift stations and a manhole pump to South Cedar Creek.

Floyd County
Charles City: The City of Charles City bypassed between 350,000 to
500,000 gallons of wastewater from the clarifier at its wastewater
treatment plant. The city bypassed to the Cedar River from 7 p.m. to 10
p.m. Sunday.

Franklin County
Hampton: The City of Hampton is bypassing wastewater from two manholes
and its wastewater treatment plant to Squaw Creek, which flows to the
West Fork Cedar River. The ongoing bypass began at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Latimer: The City of Latimer bypassed 36,000 gallons of wastewater from
its Oak St. lift station to a corn field. The bypass began at 7 p.m.
Sunday and ended at 2 a.m. Monday.

Grundy County
Dike: The City of Dike began bypassing wastewater to its storm sewer
system, which discharges without treatment to North Fork Black Hawk
Creek. The ongoing bypass began at 8 a.m. Monday, with 5,000 gallons
already discharged.

Grundy Center: On Sunday, the City of Grundy Center began bypassing an
unknown amount of wastewater from several areas around town to its storm
sewer, which discharges (without treatment) to Black Hawk Creek. The
bypass is ongoing.

Hamilton County
Blairsburg: The City of Blairsburg is conducting an emergency drawdown
of its wastewater treatment lagoons. Lagoon levels were overflowing, and
the drawdown is needed to maintain the structural integrity of the
lagoons. The city is discharging the wastewater to an unnamed tributary
of the South Skunk River.

Wellsburg: As of Monday morning, the City of Wellsburg had bypassed 1.3
million gallons of wastewater in a bypass that began Saturday. The
ongoing bypass is reaching South Beaver Creek.

Williams: The City of Williams bypassed a total of 295,000 gallons of
wastewater in two bypass events, one on Saturday morning and the other
on Sunday evening. The city bypassed from its lift station to the storm
sewer, which discharges (without treatment) to the South Fork Iowa
River.

Howard County
Elma: The City of Elma began bypassing untreated wastewater to the
Little Wapsipinicon River on Sunday. The bypass is ongoing.

Humboldt County
Humboldt: The City of Humboldt is bypassing wastewater from three
manholes to its storm sewer, which discharges (without treatment) to the
Des Moines River. The ongoing bypass began at 6 p.m. Sunday, and the
amount bypassed is currently unknown.

Kossuth County
Algona: The City of Algona bypassed about 100,000 gallons of wastewater
to the East Fork Des Moines River on Saturday, beginning at 7 a.m.

Palo Alto County
Emmetsburg: The City of Emmetsburg is bypassing secondary treatment at
its wastewater treatment facility, sending partially treated wastewater
to a drainage ditch that flows to the West Fork of the Des Moines River.
While the bypass is ongoing, 2.7 million gallons had been bypassed as of
Monday morning.

Pocahontas County
Rolfe: The City of Rolfe is bypassing untreated wastewater from a lift
station at a rate of five gallons per minute to the Des Moines River.
The ongoing bypass began Monday at 5 a.m.

Webster County
Due to heavy rainfall, storm water retention ponds at the Koch Nitrogen
facility have overflowed into a storm water ditch that flows into Brushy
Creek. Koch Nitrogen is working to pump the storm water ditch into a
secondary containment tank. The DNR is investigating.

Fort Dodge: The City of Fort Dodge began bypassing wastewater from
three lift stations and its treatment plant to the Des Moines River at
midnight Monday. The bypass is ongoing, but now only bypassing from the
treatment plant.

Worth County
Kensett: In a 20 minute period Sunday evening, the City of Kensett
bypassed an estimated 2,500 gallons of wastewater from its lift station
to a road ditch.

Wright County
Eagle Grove: At 7 p.m. Sunday, the City of Eagle Grove began an ongoing
wastewater bypass to a drainage ditch that flows to the Boone River.

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