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Health Advisory Update
Monday, June 20, 2006 - Posted at 4:30 PM EDT
TREATMENT PLANT SPILLS SEWAGE INTO WISSAHICKON
Power Outage at Ambler’s Wastewater Plant Caused Release of Untreated Effluent
NORRISTOWN - "Environmental Protection Regional Director Joseph A. Feola today announced that a Monday night power outage at the Ambler Borough wastewater treatment plant resulted in the release of approximately 55,000 gallons of raw sewage into the Wissahickon Creek, a stream impacted less than a week ago by problems discovered at the Upper Gwynedd wastewater treatment plant.
“While the plant operators in Ambler responded quickly to secure a temporary power source when a circuit breaker failed, this release of raw sewage is a serious matter and warranted swift response and oversight from DEP,” Feola said.
A DEP water quality specialist was dispatched to the site and reported no obvious impact to aquatic life. Permanent power was restored at 4 a.m. and the plant is operating within normal limits using ultraviolet light disinfection.
The ongoing investigation of a fish kill that occurred upstream last week near the outfall of the Upper Gwynedd wastewater treatment plant continues. DEP hopes to have confirming sample results today to identify the chemical that might have killed as many as 1,000 fish in the Wissahickon, and resulted in advisories to avoid contact with the stream. That pollutant is thought to have passed through the treatment plant and into the creek.
“Given this incident at the Ambler plant, we stand by our earlier advice to the public to restrict their contact with the waters of the Wissahickon until testing shows that conditions are back to normal,” Feola noted.
For more information on point source pollution, visit DEP’s Web site at www.depweb.state.pa.us, Keyword: “watersheds.”
Department of Environmental Protection
Southeast Regional Office
2 East Main Street
Norristown, PA 19401-4915
CONTACT: Dennis Harney
(484
) 250-5819