Port Wentworth to address seven sewage spills in the past five months

According to the EPD, the city violated the Georgia Rules and Regulations for Water Quality Control, the Georgia Water Quality Control Act, and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) when waters from the city’s sanitary sewer system discharged into the Savannah River.

David Lyle, EPD program manager of the Coastal District, said the frequency of the unpermitted spills is what prompted the notice to the city, but clarified that residents’ drinking water comes from a different source that isn’t contaminated by the sewage spills.

GA Department of Natural Resources - Notice of Violation to City of Port Wentworth by savannahnow.com on Scribd

“Most of the spills don’t go into the drinking water system unless there’s an odd situation where there’s cross contamination,” said Lyle. "But we consider the sewage spills to be a public health threat.”

Port Wentworth resident LaRay Benton said he is concerned about the frequency of the spills and the effects of them on marine life and other animals.

“People eat fish, crawfish and crabs out of these same waters and hunt other animals that drink from these waters,” said Benton. “It affects the entire food chain.”

According to the notice sent by the EPD, lift station #3 located on Augusta Road near the Waffle House, was the source of three of the spills caused by either power failure or equipment failure.

The spills on March 7 and July 2 resulted in 100,000 and 175,000 gallons of sewage, respectively.

City council addressed the sewage spills at a workshop in July, where Mayor Gary Norton stated he’d like to have a professional group come in to address all the lift station issues.

"The pump that we had was not sufficient for what we needed and a line busted,” said Norton.

According to Booth, the spills occurred due to faulty pipes that a subcontractor provided to Clearwater Solutions, which has handled the city’s water, wastewater, public services and sewer lift stations for three years.

Booth said that part of the Corrective Action Plan will ensure that all lift stations are running properly.

Past issues with water, sewer

At the most recent city council meeting, members voted in favor of entering a month-to-month contract with Clearwater until the end of this year.

The agreement came after a workshop, in which council members discussed the nature of the city’s contract with Clearwater. During the workshop, members stated that the scope of the provider’s responsibilities needed to be more clearly outlined so that they can be held accountable for any future incidents.

In mid-July, the city dealt with a water tank issue that prompted a boil water advisory notice to residents for three days. According to discussions, an electrical failure of the alarm system caused a delay in Clearwater's response.

In January, Brian Harvey, director of the city's Development Services, filed a complaint to EPD alleging that nine wastewater spills between June 2019 and January 2021 were not properly reported to the state.

Port Wentworth- Response to Complaint Inquiry 02162021 by savannahnow.com on Scribd

The city's response to EPD regarding the issue indicated that, after an investigation with Clearwater, they found three minor sewage spill incidents occurred in that time period, not nine.

Harvey declined to comment on the sewer spills "due to the potential for future litigation."

In the same letter, the city stated that it will be "modifying its policy and will modify its contract with CWS (Clearwater Solutions) going forward to report 'all' spills to EPD and City Officials, regardless of the 10,000 gallon and State Waters threshold provisions."

Nancy Guan is the general assignment reporter covering Chatham County municipalities. Reach her at nguan@gannett.com or on Twitter @nancyguann.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Port Wentworth to address seven sewage spills in the past five months