Tens of thousands of gallons of untreated sewage spills have been reported across Humboldt County this week. Mostly, the incidents have been blamed on the heavy rain the area has received.
There are concerns the spills could put a damper on at least one local upcoming event.
Grace Hamaker, executive director of the Redwood Discovery Museum, which is hosting the Perilous Plunge in less than two weeks, said she would take the spill into consideration for the event — an annual Eureka tradition in which costumed residents dive into the bay to raise funds for the museum.
“We are aware of the situation in Humboldt Bay and are monitoring the situation,” she said. “But with the sheer volume of water in the bay, we’re pretty optimistic.”
The cities of Eureka, Fortuna, Rio Dell, Ferndale and the Humboldt Community Services District all reported sewage overflows ranging from 1,000 gallons to almost 14,000 gallons. None of the reports indicate drinking water will be affected, but several state the sewage has likely made its way into nearby waterways including the Humboldt Bay, the Eel River, Rohner Creek and Francis Creek.
In total, almost 30,000 gallons of overflowing sewage was reported.
Kyle Knopp, Rio Dell’s city manager, said the overflow is caused by “inflow and infiltration.” Rain or storm water can enter the sewage treatment system directly or through cracks in the sewer system.
“It’s like death by a thousand cuts,” Knopp said. “It’s really just a problem of aging infrastructure and coming up with the financial resources to replace the infrastructure.”
The city did everything it could to mitigate the spill, Knopp said, including diverting over 25 percent of the spill manually by pumping it into a truck that was then sent off to the waste treatment center.
ens of thousands of gallons of untreated sewage spills have been reported across Humboldt County this week. Mostly, the incidents have been blamed on the heavy rain the area has received.
There are concerns the spills could put a damper on at least one local upcoming event.
Grace Hamaker, executive director of the Redwood Discovery Museum, which is hosting the Perilous Plunge in less than two weeks, said she would take the spill into consideration for the event — an annual Eureka tradition in which costumed residents dive into the bay to raise funds for the museum.
“We are aware of the situation in Humboldt Bay and are monitoring the situation,” she said. “But with the sheer volume of water in the bay, we’re pretty optimistic.”
The cities of Eureka, Fortuna, Rio Dell, Ferndale and the Humboldt Community Services District all reported sewage overflows ranging from 1,000 gallons to almost 14,000 gallons. None of the reports indicate drinking water will be affected, but several state the sewage has likely made its way into nearby waterways including the Humboldt Bay, the Eel River, Rohner Creek and Francis Creek.
In total, almost 30,000 gallons of overflowing sewage was reported.
Kyle Knopp, Rio Dell’s city manager, said the overflow is caused by “inflow and infiltration.” Rain or storm water can enter the sewage treatment system directly or through cracks in the sewer system.
“It’s like death by a thousand cuts,” Knopp said. “It’s really just a problem of aging infrastructure and coming up with the financial resources to replace the infrastructure.”
The city did everything it could to mitigate the spill, Knopp said, including diverting over 25 percent of the spill manually by pumping it into a truck that was then sent off to the waste treatment center.
