Credit: City of Port Wentworth
Credit: City of Port Wentworth
The City of Port Wentworth will continue to address a sewage spill violation that the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) flagged in July. In addition to following a corrective action plan to prevent future spills, the city will pay a fine of $2,500, which will come out of the water and sewer fund.
At Thursday night's council meeting, City Manager Edwin Booth said the fine will be paid next week. As part of the consent order between the city and EPD, the city must also provide progress reports on fixing the sewage spill issue, which must be resolved within the next five years.
The violation refers to seven sewage spills that occurred within the span of five months between March and July 2021. Three of those spills were considered major spills of over 10,000 gallons that discharged into an unnamed tributary of the Savannah River.
EPD Program Manager David Lyle said previously that the frequency of the unpermitted spills is what prompted the notice to the city, but that residents' drinking water was not contaminated.
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).
Lift Station #3 on Augusta Road was the source of two of the three major spills. According to Booth, Clearwater Solutions, which manages the city's water, wastewater, public services and sewer lift stations, installed the wrong equipment, which lead to a hose busting.
Booth said a total of $500,000 was spent to revamp the station.
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: UPDATE: Port Wentworth continues to address sewage spill issue, will pay $2,500 fine
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