McCORDSVILLE — A creek is being pumped in Lawrence after wastewater that wasn’t completely treated flowed there from McCordsville’s treatment plant.
In a statement on its website, the town of McCordsville said it notified the Indiana Department of Environmental Management on May 26 that the town’s wastewater plant was hit with a flow that killed most of the microorganisms used as part of the treatment process.
The plant treats about 450,000 gallons of wastewater a day, according to the statement. Along with the microorganisms, the plant also uses treatment processes like screening, settling tanks and ultraviolet disinfection.
“The biological treatment breaks down the waste and consumes the organic nutrients and makes the other treatment methods more effective,” the statement said.
The town told the Daily Reporter in an email Monday that it’s not yet known what killed the microorganisms.
“(W)e have a suspicion that someone discharged a large amount of some kind of product in a manhole or at one of our lift stations,” the email said, adding the town has yet to find any evidence of that. “In order to make some type of determination as to the nature of the substance, we are having samples tested, which could help in the discovery.”
The statement on the town’s website added testing will also help determine whether the heavy use of disinfectants associated with COVID-19 should be considered as a cause.
Whatever it was, it killed the plant’s microorganisms in a matter of days and turned its water black, the statement said. The removal of waste solids has been ongoing at the treatment plant since the start of the incident, and new microorganisms were brought in from a nearby facility to jump-start the biological process.
McCordsville’s wastewater treatment plant discharges into Dry Branch Creek, which flows west into Lawrence, where it meanders through residential areas and eventually to Geist Reservoir. The town said in its statement it was notified by Lawrence that water in the creek appeared black.
Lawrence said on its Facebook page on June 5 that the discharge was detected at about 12:30 p.m. and that it reached Oaklandon Road by about 1 p.m. The post says no people or pets should enter the creek until the discharge dissipates.
McCordsville said in its email to the Daily Reporter that an estimated 600,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater entered the creek.
The town’s contractor, Fluid Waste, Inc., is pumping the creek and will continue to do so until it returns to its natural state, according to McCordsville’s statement on its website.
Water is being pumped out of the creek into a manhole under the direction of the city of Lawrence, McCordsville said in its email. That water will go to Citizens Energy Group’s Belmont wastewater treatment plant in Indianapolis. Pumping began around 7:30 p.m. June 5 and will continue until IDEM and Marion County are satisfied with testing results.
Scott Salsbery, Lawrence utilities superintendent, told the Daily Reporter that pumping could continue for another week or two.
“It’s very unfortunate, but getting the water pumped out of the creek is a good thing,” Salsbery said.
He added McCordsville will be assigned the volume charges for the pumping.
Barry Sneed, IDEM public information officer, told the Daily Reporter in an email that field tests indicated it’s unlikely the spill reached the dam on the south end of Geist Reservoir.
McCordsville posted on its Facebook page Monday that the town was informed by Citizens Energy Group that the incident wouldn’t affect drinking water in the reservoir, as it goes through a drinking water treatment plant at Fall Creek. That post also said samples from Dry Branch Creek have been sent to a lab for testing to monitor how the contamination is being remediated.
“Actions taken throughout the day today, and over the weekend, have caused the situation to continue to improve.” Sneed said in his email. “…IDEM will evaluate this incident and determine the next regulatory steps after a full investigation is complete.”
IDEM’s emergency response team is assisting in the remediation, as are the manufacturer of McCordsville’s wastewater treatment plant process, the Marion County Health Department and Citizens Energy.
McCordsville said on its Facebook page that the situation is not affecting residential wastewater service.
In its email to the Daily Reporter, the town encouraged people to call 317-335-3493 and leave a message if they notice suspicious activity around manholes or lift stations.
