BLOCKED LINE LEADS TO SEWER OVERFLOW

CARY , NC – Grease and debris blocked a portion of the Town of Cary ’s sanitary sewer system resulting in a 2,451-gallon spill from a manhole on Sunday, January 8 at 4:02 p.m. at the 200 block of Whitehall Way .  The untreated waste reached an unnamed tributary of Walnut Creek ; no fish-kill was observed.  After quickly unblocking the line and restoring normal flow, Town crews built a dam, flushed the affected area with 52,300 gallons of dechlorinated water, and pumped the flushing water back into the Town’s collection system. 

To decrease such incidents, the Town of Cary in 1998 established a Pretreatment Program designed to work with property owners to reduce the amount of fats, oils, and greases (FOG) that are dumped each year into the municipal sewer system.   When such spills do occur, the pretreatment team sends reminder letters about the problems associated with FOG to area residents and businesses.

Helpful publications from the FOG program, which are available at www.townofcary.org, include:

• What do I do if I have a sewer blockage?
• Do's and Don'ts - Sanitary Sewer System
• FOG Bill Insert
• How to dispose of cooking grease
• How blockage affects the sewer system
• Common items that should not be disposed of in the sewer

The web section also includes a short video of the inside of a sewage line coated with grease.

The Clean Water Act requires public notice in the form of a news release issued by public works operators within 48 hours of the detection of a wastewater overflow of 1,000 gallons or greater that also reaches surface waters.  Paid advertisements are also necessary for spills in excess of 14,999 gallons.

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