City of Olympia pays $15,000 penalty for Percival Creek sewage spill in May
The city of Olympia has paid a $15,000 penalty for a sewer spill into Percival Creek that went undetected for five days over Memorial Day weekend.
The fine was paid to the state Department of Ecology, according to a news release.
The spill started after a temporary sewer line was clogged with rags and other materials and began to overflow. By the time contractors detected the leak, an estimated 232,560 gallons of sewage entered the creek. None of the sewage was recovered.
A temporary sewer line was being used because contractors were working to fix an existing sewer line that had been damaged in a February storm. The 10-inch-diameter pipe serves about 100 properties in west Olympia.
It was not immediately clear if the sewer pipe was deliberately tampered with, although that was considered a possibility at the time.
“This spill could have been prevented,” said Ecology’s regional water quality program supervisor Andrew Kolosseus in a statement. “A communications failure left the work site unattended through the holiday weekend. Even a daily visit — by either city or contractor staff — would have made this a much shorter and smaller spill.”
In addition to the fine, the city spent $1.1 million to make permanent repairs.
“Any sewer spill is one too many,” said Eric Christensen, Olympia Water Resources Director, in a statement. “The city accepts responsibility for the miscommunication that led to the extent of the sewer spill. As soon as we were aware of the spill, we responded immediately.”
Ecology water quality penalty payments go to the state’s Coastal Protection Fund. The fund issues grants to public agencies and tribes for water quality restoration projects, according to a news release.
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
