An estimated 60,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater was spilled at the Aqua Texas treatment facility on FM 2325 on Monday.
“Any discharge from a wastewater plant of partially or untreated sewage is significant,” Scot Foltz, environmental compliance manager for Aqua Texas, said. “But there are no surface water, streams or public water wells directly affected (by this spill.)”
Foltz said that a return line that takes settled sludge from the sediment basin of the plant back for retreatment broke overnight and was discovered in the morning.
“Crews are out there with vactor trucks, and they are sucking up any of the discharge, washing it and disinfecting the area,” Foltz said. “…There are some swells and ditches we need to inspect… It is a karst area, so we want to get it cleaned as quickly as possible.”
Foltz said later in the day on Monday that the clean up would be completed by the evening. He confirmed that only one property owner had been impacted and that there were three private wells within a half mile of the incident that Aqua Texas would notify directly as required by the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality.
“Basically, it was ranchland that was affected – no schools, streams, ponds,” Foltz said. “It was on vacant open land that we are able to clean up relatively easily. The repairs have been made.”
