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43 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, January 24, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 15, 2004 High water dilutes spilled sewage Rogue River city workers cleaned up right away and posted warning signs By SANNE SPECHT Mail Tribune ROGUE RIVER — A systems failure at one of the city’s sewage stations sent anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 gallons of raw sewage toward Evans Creek and the Rogue River Tuesday. Officials said they have no way of knowing how much sewage made its way into either stream but expect it to have minimal impact, thanks to high water flows. "It’s literally like a drop in a full bathtub," said Public Works Director Ken Johnson. "We’re talking around 50,000 gallons flowing into billions of gallons of water." The spill happened at a lift station a quarter-mile up Evans Creek from its confluence with the Rogue River, Johnson said. A power surge blew a fuse in a central operating panel that notifies the site operator of overflows. Johnson described the spill as flowing through heavy vegetation to a sand bar near the creek. Advertisement Department of Environmental Quality officials instructed the city to post signs at the spill site and to notify the city of Grants Pass, which pulls drinking water from the Rogue River. Andy Ullrich, DEQ compliance engineer, said the spill amount was minimal, handled effectively and should not pose a danger. "We aren’t anticipating any public health issues," he said. Workers making early morning rounds discovered the overflow and took immediate action, Johnson said. "We went to work within minutes," he said. City crews cleaned the area, chemically treated the spill site with lime and posted warning signs at the scene, he said. "We didn’t see any sign of contamination in the water," Johnson said. "The DEQ wanted us to post at that site because of potential residue on the ground or in slack water in the creek." This is the second spill in five years for Rogue River. The city’s last spill was in October 2000. A sewer main broke and 640,000 gallons of raw sewage went into a vacant field between Foothills Boulevard and Interstate 5. That spill’s combination of high gallon volume and low river flow rates caused the city and the DEQ to warn residents to limit their contact with river water between the spill site and Savage Rapids Dam, three miles downstream. "This (spill) was nothing like that one," said Johnson. Ullrich said the minimal effects and crews’ quick response to Tuesday’s spill probably will spare the city from DEQ fines. "The spill had already been stopped, they’re posting at the stream and they’re looking at a redundant warning system," said Ullrich. Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers