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City to pay $20K to clean up sewage from Great Miami River

The environmental impact from the break appears to be minimal, and the line should be repaired soon, said Matt Carpenter, deputy director of water for the city.

Staff photo by Jim Witmer The environmental impact from the break appears to be minimal, and the line should be repaired soon, said Matt Carpenter, deputy director of water for the city.

ENLARGE PHOTO

The Ohio Department of Transportation estimates it’s saving close to $250,000 on local Interstate 75 construction projects thanks to the natural deposits of gravel, dirt and sand in the river.

Staff photo by Jim Witmer The Ohio Department of Transportation estimates it’s saving close to $250,000 on local Interstate 75 construction projects thanks to the natural deposits of gravel, dirt and sand in the river.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Photos: Repairing broken sewer pipes

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Heavy equipment mining gravel in the Great Miami River for I-75 construction projects accidentally struck a sanitary sewer pipe, sending an unknown amount of raw sewage downstream. The city has set up a dam around the break area to contain the spill and is pumping the waste into a nearby sewer.

Staff photo by Jim Witmer Heavy equipment mining gravel in the Great Miami River for I-75 construction projects accidentally struck a sanitary sewer pipe, sending an unknown amount of raw sewage downstream. The city has set up a dam around the break area to contain the spill and is pumping the waste into a nearby sewer.

By Lucas Sullivan and Steve Bennish
Staff Writers Updated 11:01 PM Thursday, September 2, 2010

DAYTON — Incorrectly marked city sewer lines ruptured by construction crews Wednesday, Sept. 1, caused raw sewage to leak into the Great Miami River for hours — a mess that will cost taxpayers at least $20,000 to clean up.

There are no estimates as to how much sewage leaked into the river from two 24-inch pipes that serve the University of Dayton area. Crews from Ruhlin Co. broke the pipes about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday and built a makeshift dam of gravel that contained the spill about four hours later.

The pipes continued to leak for more than 24 hours into a 20-foot pool inside the dam as three industrial-sized pumps sucked the sewage into a nearby sewer. The pipes were plugged early Thursday afternoon.

“We have not noticed any ill effects, no fish kill, no impact on wildlife,” said Matt Carpenter, the city’s deputy director of water. “The river itself is safe to use. There is no impact to anyone’s home or business and there is no public health issue.”

Carpenter said he won’t have an estimate as to how much sewage leaked until water is cleared from the pipes and engineers can see the size of the ruptures.

The city must provide an estimate to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency within five days, he said. OEPA officials were at the river Wednesday and again Thursday, testing its chemical levels.

Ruhlin crews mining gravel for Interstate 75 construction work hit the lines about 1,500 feet south of the Stewart Street Bridge because the lines had been improperly marked by city staff, Carpenter said. The mining was supposed to be a no-cost effort to help remove a bar of rocks that have built up in the river, while helping Ruhlin with materials for the I-75 construction.

Now the city will have to pay for the cleanup and repairs while officials try to erase a $6 million city budget deficit.

The low flow of the river, along with it being shallow because of the dry summer and open dam doors downstream, are aiding in the effort to clean up the spill, Carpenter said.

Most of the cleaning was expected to be completed late Thursday, but efforts could last through the weekend, he said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2494 or lsullivan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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