Iowa Department of Natural ResourcesEnvironmental 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 thestate during the weekend, has resulted in numerous overflows of sewagetreatment systems and at least one fish kill. Rainfall as heavy as 10 inches was reported in Emmetsburg where thecity had bypassed more than 2.7 million gallons into a nearby creek bynoon Monday due to the system becoming overloaded. Private well users in areas hard hit by heavy precipitation are beingurged to have their water tested, according to Ken Sharp, of theEnvironmental Health Bureau for the Iowa Department of Public Health. Run off due to excess rain can cause bacteria and other potentialcontaminants to be washed into the well. Sharp encouraged anyone withconcerns about their well to contact their county public healthdepartment 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 PublicHealth to avoid flooded areas where bacteria levels could be high. Otherareas that should be avoided are where sewage pumping stations andmanholes from sewer systems are overflowing into the streets or onproperty. The heavy rainfall can also produce fish kills when pollutants arewashed into streams, lakes and ponds from run off. The DNR has identified an open feedlot as the source of a fish kill inthe West Branch of the Floyd River about three miles southeast of SiouxCenter on Saturday. Heavy rains Friday and Saturday caused a solidssettling basin to overflow, washing manure solids and feedlot runoffinto a ditch that led to the river. More than 200 dead fish were present below the feedlot, mainly creekchubs, suckers and minnows. More dead fish had washed downstream. TheDNR is waiting for laboratory test results to confirm no other feedlotis involved. Heavy rain can overload wastewater collection systems, which are theunderground sewer pipes that carry sewage to a treatment plant. Aging orpoorly maintained sanitary sewer systems are particularly vulnerable toinfluxes of storm water. With the sewage pipes overwhelmed, the excesswater has nowhere to go, and can backup into basements through floordrains. Bypassing can lower the water level in the collection system,keeping sewage from backing up into basements, which would presenthealth risks. “While facilities should not have to bypass, sometimes nature givesfacilities more rain than they can handle,” Barb Lynch, head of theDNR’s environmental field services. According to DNR design standards for construction of new wastewatertreatment systems, facilities should be able to handle the amount ofwater in the collection system from all three of these events happeningat 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 theprocess of upgrading their collection systems to handle these events,many more need to upgrade. The DNR tracks bypass reports submitted by facilities and follows upwith the facility to determine problems and help them upgrade theirsystems, although it can be a long-term process. The DNR has also formeda 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 thefish and plants that live in the water, bypassing needs to be minimizedas much as possible,” said Lynch. These types of situations can occur when large amounts of rainwater orsnowmelt, also called storm water, enter a sanitary sewer from cracks insewer pipes. Sewer system upgrades can fix cracked pipes and minimizestorm water entering the sanitary sewer system. However, like otherinfrastructure upgrades, repairs are costly and often take years tocomplete. Storm water runoff can also enter the sanitary sewer through improperconnections, such as roof drains or sump pumps hooked up to the sanitarysewer system instead of the storm water system. The storm water shouldenter the storm sewer system and flow directly into a stream or lake.When storm water enters the sanitary sewer system, the volume of watercan overwhelm the wastewater treatment system. “Communities need to check for sources of storm water getting intothe system, and work with homes and businesses to disconnect storm watersources from the sanitary sewer, as well as inspecting their sewagepipes,” said Dennis Ostwinkle, head of the DNR’s Washington fieldoffice and wastewater compliance coordinator. Facilities are required to report bypasses caused by mechanicalfailures to the DNR within 12 hours of onset or discovery. Facilities donot have to immediately report bypasses from precipitation events, butmust include them in their monthly operating report to the DNR. Precipitation-related environmental incidents that have been reportedto the DNR as of 2 p.m. Monday include: Allamakee CountyPostville: The City of Postville is bypassing from its wastewatertreatment plant and up to five lift stations. The ongoing bypass toWilliams Creek began at 6:15 Sunday morning. Black Hawk CountyCedar Falls: The City of Cedar Falls is bypassing from its Park Drivelift station to a wooded area at a rate of 1,000 gallons per hour. Thebypass began at 5 p.m. Sunday and will continue through Wednesday. Thecity is also bypassing wastewater at a rate of 300 gallons per minutefrom a detention basin at its treatment plant to the Cedar River. Dunkerton: The City of Dunkerton bypassed an unknown amount ofwastewater from 6 p.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday to the LittleWapsipinicon River. Boone CountyBoone: The City of Boone is bypassing to prevent wastewater frombacking up into basements. The city is pumping from manholes into HoneyCreek, a tributary of the Des Moines River. Bremer CountyDenver: The City of Denver is bypassing wastewater from a manhole onHoover Street to Quarter Section Run. The bypass began at 8 p.m. Sundayand has discharged 250,000 gallons as of Monday morning. Readlyn: The City of Readlyn bypassed an unknown amount of wastewaterfrom 6:30 p.m. Sunday to 6:00 a.m. Monday. The bypass took place at theintersection of County Road V49 and First Street and discharged to anunnamed tributary of the Wapsipinicon River. Calhoun CountyNorth Twin Lake: Twin Lakes Sanitary District is bypassing wastewaterinto the southwest portion of North Twin Lake following a serviceconnection break. The district has dug holes to collect additionalwastewater before it reaches the lake. Contractors are working to repairthe connection. Cerro Gordo CountyClear Lake: The City of Clear Lake bypassed about 100,000 gallons ofwastewater to Willow Creek from 6:30 p.m. Sunday to 1 a.m. Monday. Mason City: The City of Mason City is currently bypassing wastewaterfrom two locations. The first bypass began at 1:30 p.m. Sunday and hassent 46,500 gallons to the Winnebago River; while the other began at 1a.m. Monday and has sent 162,000 gallons to Chelsea Creek. Clayton County:Garnavillo: The City of Garnavillo began bypassing Sunday from threelift stations and a manhole pump to South Cedar Creek. Floyd CountyCharles City: The City of Charles City bypassed between 350,000 to500,000 gallons of wastewater from the clarifier at its wastewatertreatment plant. The city bypassed to the Cedar River from 7 p.m. to 10p.m. Sunday. Franklin CountyHampton: The City of Hampton is bypassing wastewater from two manholesand its wastewater treatment plant to Squaw Creek, which flows to theWest Fork Cedar River. The ongoing bypass began at 6 p.m. Sunday. Latimer: The City of Latimer bypassed 36,000 gallons of wastewater fromits Oak St. lift station to a corn field. The bypass began at 7 p.m.Sunday and ended at 2 a.m. Monday. Grundy CountyDike: The City of Dike began bypassing wastewater to its storm sewersystem, which discharges without treatment to North Fork Black HawkCreek. The ongoing bypass began at 8 a.m. Monday, with 5,000 gallonsalready discharged. Grundy Center: On Sunday, the City of Grundy Center began bypassing anunknown amount of wastewater from several areas around town to its stormsewer, which discharges (without treatment) to Black Hawk Creek. Thebypass is ongoing. Hamilton CountyBlairsburg: The City of Blairsburg is conducting an emergency drawdownof its wastewater treatment lagoons. Lagoon levels were overflowing, andthe drawdown is needed to maintain the structural integrity of thelagoons. The city is discharging the wastewater to an unnamed tributaryof the South Skunk River. Wellsburg: As of Monday morning, the City of Wellsburg had bypassed 1.3million gallons of wastewater in a bypass that began Saturday. Theongoing bypass is reaching South Beaver Creek. Williams: The City of Williams bypassed a total of 295,000 gallons ofwastewater in two bypass events, one on Saturday morning and the otheron Sunday evening. The city bypassed from its lift station to the stormsewer, which discharges (without treatment) to the South Fork IowaRiver. Howard CountyElma: The City of Elma began bypassing untreated wastewater to theLittle Wapsipinicon River on Sunday. The bypass is ongoing. Humboldt CountyHumboldt: The City of Humboldt is bypassing wastewater from threemanholes to its storm sewer, which discharges (without treatment) to theDes Moines River. The ongoing bypass began at 6 p.m. Sunday, and theamount bypassed is currently unknown. Kossuth CountyAlgona: The City of Algona bypassed about 100,000 gallons of wastewaterto the East Fork Des Moines River on Saturday, beginning at 7 a.m. Palo Alto CountyEmmetsburg: The City of Emmetsburg is bypassing secondary treatment atits wastewater treatment facility, sending partially treated wastewaterto 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 ofMonday morning. Pocahontas CountyRolfe: The City of Rolfe is bypassing untreated wastewater from a liftstation at a rate of five gallons per minute to the Des Moines River.The ongoing bypass began Monday at 5 a.m. Webster CountyDue to heavy rainfall, storm water retention ponds at the Koch Nitrogenfacility have overflowed into a storm water ditch that flows into BrushyCreek. Koch Nitrogen is working to pump the storm water ditch into asecondary containment tank. The DNR is investigating. Fort Dodge: The City of Fort Dodge began bypassing wastewater fromthree lift stations and its treatment plant to the Des Moines River atmidnight Monday. The bypass is ongoing, but now only bypassing from thetreatment plant. Worth CountyKensett: In a 20 minute period Sunday evening, the City of Kensettbypassed an estimated 2,500 gallons of wastewater from its lift stationto a road ditch. Wright CountyEagle Grove: At 7 p.m. Sunday, the City of Eagle Grove began an ongoingwastewater bypass to a drainage ditch that flows to the Boone River. -30- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp