Originally published July 30 2005
Santa Fe River sewage spill
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A hundred gallons of sewage sludge was spilled into the Santa Fe river because a city official turned the wrong valve, reports ABQJournal.
A city worker who turned the wrong valve at Santa Fe's wastewater treatment plant caused about 100 gallons of sewage sludge to spill into the Santa Fe River southwest of the city.
Qustandi "Costy'' Kassiesieh, city wastewater management director, said the spill Thursday was not an environmental catastrophe because the amount wasn't large.
Liquid sludge washed into the river toward La Cienega, Cochiti Reservoir and the Rio Grande but Kassiesieh said nothing needed to be done "because the amount is too small, compared to the 5 million gallons'' of treated effluent returned to the river daily.
The spill occurred when workers who opened valves to move the sludge around opened the wrong valve, he said.
Workers noticed the problem in about half an hour, and started building berms with dirt to stop the flow.
Kassiesieh notified the state Environment Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, although he said federal rules require notification only if more than 250 gallons spills into a river.
City crews on Thursday washed down and disinfected an area where sludge had built up along a road through the treatment plant.
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