By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
Updated 7:42 p.m. Oct. 15, 2024
THREE RIVERS — For the second time in two years, a major wastewater spill into the St. Joseph River in Three Rivers has occurred.
On Monday, the Three Rivers Department of Public Services announced that an estimated 50,000 gallons of untreated wastewater was discharged into the river, and was identified at 3:30 p.m. The spill, according to Wastewater Superintendent Taylor Davis in a statement, occurred due to “complications” during a transition to a new pump station on Broadway Street.
In an interview Tuesday, Davis said the cause was some sort of obstruction in a line, which has not been found as of yet.
“The new pump station had to pump to the old headworks, because we’re getting a new headworks right now. Somewhere in the piping and valves, there must have been an obstruction. We don’t know if it’s a valve issue or obstruction of the pipe. So, when they turned on the pump station, it couldn’t go to the old headworks, but it could go to the new one that’s not ready yet,” Davis said.
“In the meantime, we disconnected the old lines at the new pump station, which when we did that, we weren’t able to pump to the old headworks. That caused the system to back up and come out of the low point of the collection system,” Davis added, explaining that’s how the overflow into the river occurred.
The spill was stopped within two hours of its discovery, Davis said. He added that wastewater treatment personnel are going to put in new piping to go around the old valves to the old headworks until the new headworks is ready.
In response to the spill, a no-contact advisory was issued, meaning residents are advised to avoid any body contact with the St. Joseph River from the Broadway Street Bridge to the Withers Road Bridge. This includes any contact for recreational activities like tubing, kayaking, swimming, canoeing, or fishing. Anyone having contact with the river after 3:30 p.m. Monday is advised by DPS to take a shower and wash any clothing that was in contact with the river. Pets should also be bathed if they were in contact with the water.
The advisory is in effect until water samples from the river have been analyzed and demonstrate that coliform levels are back at normally expected amounts. It is unknown the timeline for when that may occur, however Davis said the latest test results would come in at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
This is the second such spill in Three Rivers within the last 15 months, as back in July 2023, 500,000 gallons were spilled from the Wastewater Treatment Plant into the St. Joseph River. That spill led to criticism of the plant and Davis, as it had not been communicated to proper authorities until 72 hours after the spill. Monday’s, according to email records, was reported within three hours of its occurrence.
Davis also stressed this incident is a “separate issue” from the issues with the force main between Constantine and Three Rivers that have plagued the Gleason Road area for the past few years.
This story was updated to include quotes from Davis, as well as additional background information.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
