WASA reports 'major' spill

Mon, 05/08/2006 - 2:05pm
By: John Munford

An estimated 250,000 gallons of untreated sewage spilled into Line Creek Saturday morning because of a human error, said Larry Turner, General Manager of the Peachtree City Water and Sewer Authority.

That error has led to the firing of the operator who was in charge of the Rockaway Wastewater Treatment Plant where the error occurred, Turner said.

The plant’s alarm system was activated around 8:30 a.m. but the plant operator on duty failed to act on that alarm, Turner said. When the next plant operator came on duty at 3 p.m. during the shift change, the new operator recognized the problem and alerted the appropriate officials, Turner added.

“There’s no excuse for that,” Turner said of the fired operator’s lack to act on the alarms. “I don’t know what he was doing.”

The alarm was created by WASA’s computerized monitoring system, signaling that a level sensor in the pump station had malfunctioned, Turner said.

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division was notified and signs have been erected in a fishing area off Rockaway Road and Ga. Highway 85 to warn anyone not to fish there, Turner said.

The Rockaway Wastewater Treatment Plant treats approximately 1.5 million gallons of sewage per day, Turner said.

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Submitted by brandis070882 on Fri, 05/12/2006 - 8:05pm.

EVERYBODY [YAUGHT,PTCTAXPAYER,& FANCYPANTS] LOVES TO BASH PEOPLE WHEN THINGS GO WRONG, BUT I BET YOUR OPINION WOULD BE DIFFERANT IF YOU NEEDED THESE GUYS TO HELP YOU WITH A PLUMBING PROBLEM. "YAUGHT" SAYS, " If the person had anything they wouldnt have been working there." WHAT KIND OF COMMENT IS THAT?? WHO ELSE IS GONNA DO IT....YOU, I THOUGHT NOT. KEEP YOU DAY JOBS OF BASHING PEOPLE ON THE COMPUTER! THE OTHER TWO PEN NAMES ARE JUST BEING IGNORANT.

Submitted by PMT1199 on Wed, 05/10/2006 - 9:05pm.

yea this is someone who voted steve brown in and couldnt wait to get him out??? Just remember there is no ELITE in PTC because your [DELETED] doesnt stink!!!!

Submitted by PMT1199 on Wed, 05/10/2006 - 5:28pm.

ok first things first. i knew the guy that was responsible for the spill. technically it wasnt him that was responsible for it, it was a mechanical failure. also, that job was not just a "push a button and watch a dial" job. there are many test u have to run and about 35 pump stations in PTC alone. and there are also 2 or 3 in tyrone that PTC WASA takes care of. and about the "Our [[[DELETED]]] doesn’t stink…" comment, trust me i pass one of the stations every day. it stinks... bad. Second, just because u have a job like that doesnt mean u dont have anything. you have great job security.

mudcat's picture
Submitted by mudcat on Wed, 05/10/2006 - 6:36pm.

You sound like Steve Brown dumbing down and mocking southeners, blue collar workers and rednecks and of course, the PTC elite.

Go away Steve, far, far away.
meow


fancypants's picture
Submitted by fancypants on Mon, 05/08/2006 - 2:37pm.

That person should also get sued! How careless can you be?


Submitted by Sailon on Mon, 05/08/2006 - 5:13pm.

Don't get too hasty to hang the lowest echelon available. The Army works like that (Abu Ghraib, for example) when the real problem may be supervision or training is lacking. Of course, the authority will want MORE people to avoid a spill again. Are "Authorities and contractors" working? We pay town employees (at the top) good money to manage, don't we?

ptctaxpayer's picture
Submitted by ptctaxpayer on Mon, 05/08/2006 - 5:37pm.

Bring Back Virgil, Tate and the Gang

These are just the guys to solve the problem with the Sewer Authority. And appoint Bobby to handle the press release---- “Screw all the little people down stream. So what if they got six (6) hours of our virgin wastewater ? Our [[[DELETED]]] doesn’t stink…”

And might I add, is this is a good indication in the argument about whether or not to expand our sewer system ?


H. Hamster's picture
Submitted by H. Hamster on Mon, 05/08/2006 - 6:38pm.

We don't need to call in the military for a simple personnel problem. That's a tiny bit of sewerage and the folks in Senoia are already conditioned to it.

Expanding the sewer system is a great idea - it gives us more people and "flow" upstream and that will move things along.


fancypants's picture
Submitted by fancypants on Tue, 05/09/2006 - 7:05am.

I just for the live of me can not understand how someone can ignore an alarm for hours at a time, especially when it is your job just to watch all the dials and monitors and make sure nothig goes wrong.

It's a sad stae of affairs if that's the best hire they could find.


Submitted by Sailon on Tue, 05/09/2006 - 8:02am.

I'm afraid you believe what you hear too soon. Your statement is however correct, but it didn't happen like that. Cover-ups are the fancy nowadays. Better wait for the total truth.

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