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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