Vandalism is being blamed for the failure of a sewage pump station in Fayetteville
that led to an estimated 7,200 gallons of raw untreated sewage spilling Monday
night into a stream that leads into Nash Creek.
Rick Eastin, director of the city’s water and sewer department, said
someone broke the lock to vandalize equipment at the pump station located
behind the Hobby Lobby shopping center. The repair work was completed in
about an hour after an alarm system sounded.
“We were all over it as soon as we got the alarm from the station,” Eastin
said.
Eastin said he couldn’t explain why someone would want to vandalize
the pump station but he has heard of similar instances in the past, though
none in Fayetteville.
“I don’t have any answers as to why someone would do it,” Eastin
said.
The spill likely will cost the city a fine as most of metro Atlanta is in
a “zero-tolerance” zone for sewage spills, noted Andrew Sullivan,
an environmental specialist with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
The resulting spill of raw sewage led killed over 200 fish in the stream,
most of which were small in size, said officials with Georgia Fish and Wildlife.
Brent Hess, a fisheries specialist with the Georgia Department of Natural
Resources, said it was likely the water in the creek was contaminated with
ammonia, causing the fish kill. The fish were mostly small, mostly minnows
with a few redbreast and a few bullhead catfish, Hess added.
Shirley Butel said she feeds the fish in the creek daily. When she saw the
dead fish Tuesday, she became concerned and called the EPD.
The creek divides a small chunk of Butel’s backyard that serves as
a playground area. Butel has noticed a number of wildlife in the area; several
different birds show up, including herons and a kingfish bird which feed
off the fish from the creek, Butel said.
She also has seen an otter, a mink, muskrats and possums. And one deer,
but it was only passing through “so it doesn’t count,” she
said.
