Partially Treated Sewage Spills Into Russian River in California

GUERNEVILLE, Calif.—The Russian River County Sanitation District Treatment Plant experienced a spill of secondary treated wastewater, according to a press release by Sonoma Water. The spill occurred in California’s Sonoma County on March 1 and continued into the morning of March 2. The spill is believed to have been caused by the weekend storm in progress at the time. It is estimated that nearly 277,000 gallons of secondary treated wastewater spilled on the treatment plant property. The spill occurred after a power failure shut the facility down, Assistant Sonoma Water General Manager Pam Jeane told The Press Democrat. She said when power was restored, a programmable controller reset valves in the system, closing off access to the third treatment step and allowing flows to build up between the second and third treatment phases until the basin overflowed....