Oconee County on Friday morning (Feb. 14) reported a major spill of untreated sewage into an unnamed tributary just south of where it flows under Tanglebrook Drive at the entrance to Tanglebrook subdivision and then into McNutt Creek.
The spill resulted from a break in the 12 inch force main that follows the tributary, according to the notification from the county.
The break occurred at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Thursday (Feb. 13), the county reported, with repairs completed five hours later.
Oconee County Water Resources Department personnel responded, according to the notification, but not before “there was an overflow which released up to 34,713 gallons” of sewage into the tributary.
“Necessary measures were taken immediately to contain the flow and repair the line,” the notification said. “The repair was complete and flow was restored to the force main” by 12:30 a.m. on Friday.
The discharge is classified as a “major spill” by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
“In accordance with state regulations, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) and the Oconee County Environmental Health Department were notified,” according to the county’s notification of the spill.
A sign notifying the public of the spill was at the spill area on Saturday.
“Testing is being conducted for upstream and downstream water quality,” the county said in the release, and the lab results for water quality will be sent to the EPD.
Nature Of Line
The sewer line that runs along the tributary that separates Tanglebrook subdivision and the Pinewood Estates South mobile home park is a major part of the county’s sewer system.
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Sewage is pumped through that line from the large pump station between Parkway Boulevard and McNutt Creek just west of the bridge carrying Epps Bridge Parkway across McNutt Creek.
McNutt Creek forms much of the northern border of Oconee County with Clarke County, and a gravity feed sewer line runs along McNutt Creek from that pump station nearly to Bogart.
That sewer line along McNutt Creek is the collector for sewage from the county’s commercial hub along Epps Bridge Road, the Oconee Connector, and Virgil Langford Road.
Sewage from that pump station at Parkway Boulevard and Epps Bridge Parkway moves through pipes up the unnamed tributary of McNutt Creek to another pump station behind the shopping center where Trader Joe’s is located.
From that station, sewage is pumped under SR Loop 10 to a line running along Daniells Bridge Road and Experiment Station Road to Calls Creek and ultimately to the county’s treatment plant on Calls Creek on the north side of Watkinsville.
The tributary of McNutt Creek where the break occurred flows the short distance to McNutt Creek then east and south to where McNutt Creek joins the Middle Oconee River southeast of where Macon Highway crosses McNutt Creek at The Falls of Oconee retail park.
Long range plans call for an extension of the McNutt Creek sewer line down that creek to a future county water treatment plant on the Oconee River downstream from where McNutt Creek and the Middle Oconee River meet.
That gravity feed line would allow the county to deactivate the two pump stations and force main lines now moving the sewage to the Daniells Bridge Road line.
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