City of Breckenridge cleaning up sewage discharge at Gunsolus Creek
By Tony Pilkington and Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan
City of Breckenridge employees are at the site of a recent sewage discharge into Gunsolus Creek today, working under a TCEQ plan to clean up the sludge that has settled to the bottom of the creek following last week’s discharge.
City of Breckenridge workers connect a vacuum hose to a truck as they prepare to remove sludge and other contaminants from the Gunsolus Creek on Thursday, April 30. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
They were using a Vactor iMPACT vacuum truck designed for use by municipalities for sewer cleanups to remove sludge and debris from the bottom of the creek. The City employees had made a dam using floatation devices to contain the water. They worked together to sweep the sludge off the bottom of the creek and push it toward the vacuum hose connected to the truck.
The vacuum truck, which is a City vehicle, is capable of carrying 500 gallons when it’s full. Once they have the truck full, they take it to the sewer plant and dump it. And come back. According to one city worker, they had already removed three to four truckloads and were expecting to remove more.
The situation started on Friday, April 24, when a clog at the City of Breckenridge’s wastewater treatment plant led to a discharge 100,000 to 150,000 gallons of partially treated sewage into Gunsolus Creek just north of Breckenridge, according to a public notice by the City. The sludge clog was resolved at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 25, according to information from Breckenridge City Manager Cynthia Northrop.
The location of the discharge is at a place in the creek where the City normally discharges treated sewer water into the creek. However, the water that was discharged on Friday was only partially treated due to the clog at the plant. The discharge took place at a spot north of the City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is north of the city. The creek flows northward to the Clear Fork of the Brazos. Therefore, the contaminated water was never in the portion of the creek that flows through the city.
The incident is under investigation by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
In an email this afternoon, April 30, Northrop said the City continues to work with TCEQ to clean any residual in the creek, waiting for it to settle.
The City crews arrived on the site this morning to clean the creek, according to a TCEQ plan, and are expected to finish the cleanup by the end of the day, depending on the weather.
As part of the cleanup, “socks” were installed on Tuesday, April 28, to soak up grease residue, and crews worked today to remove all residue they could, focusing on what is accessible from the bank, Northrop said in the email.
Northrop said that TCEQ has requested e-coli testing, and crews will take that sample on Friday, May 1. The Abilene lab will come and pick up the sample to take back to their lab for analysis.
Additionally, the City’s standard, ongoing samples at the wastewater treatment plant, per TCEQ, were taken Tuesday, April 28. Results will be available in two to three weeks.
TCEQ has verified their has been no evidence of fish kills, Northrop said.
A City of Breckenridge worker uses a long-handled brush to sweep sludge and other sewer water contaminants toward a vacuum hose in Gunsolus Creek Thursday afternoon, April 30. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Cutline, top photo: Breckenridge City workers used a vacuum truck Thursday afternoon to remove sludge and other contaminants from Gunsolus Creek following the discharge of partially treated sewer water into the creek last Friday evening. Today’s cleanup process is part of a TCEQ plan, according to city officials. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
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