City reports more sewer spills caused by heavy rain

Just days after an estimated 36,000 gallons of sewage spilled into Parker’s Mill Creek on March 27, the city has issued a public notice that two more spills occurred on April 1.
City officials say that at approximately 7:30 p.m. Friday heavy rainfall caused a hydraulic overload at the city’s wastewater treatment plant that resulted in an influent spill of an estimated 14,850 gallons spilling into the creek and an effluent spill of an estimated 57,750 gallons being discharged into the creek.
The influent spill lasted until noon on April 2 and the effluent spill lasted until 11 p.m. April 2.
During heavy rain events, storm water infiltrates the city’s wastewater treatment system and overloads the plant, according to Cairo city manager Chris Addleton.
Monitoring stations have been established upstream and downstream of the spill point and reports will be filed with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division for the next 12 months.
A spill of 20,400 gallons of sewage at the plant was reported on Feb. 3, 2016.