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Mississippi’s sewers drained nearly 45 million gallons wastewater into the environment – Magnolia State Live

Mississippi’s sewers drained nearly 45 million gallons wastewater into the environment – Magnolia State Live

Mississippi city's sewers dumped nearly 45 million gallons of wastewater into environment - Magnolia State Live

Nearly 45 million gallons of untreated wastewater was released over a four-month period into the environment due to sewer failures in Mississippi’s capital, according to the latest quarterly report the city submitted to federal regulators.

The report, required under Jackson’s sewer consent decree, covers the period from Dec. 1 through March 21, WLBT-TV reported. It was submitted on April 30.

Jackson saw 259 sewer overflows during the reporting period. This resulted in the release of more than 44.7 millions gallons of sewage into our environment. An estimated 33.9million gallons of sewage went into waters that are Waters of the U.S. The city is subject to a sewer decree that penalizes it for each water overflow.

Jackson signed the decree in 2012 with U.S. Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency to bring Jackson’s sewer system into compliance under federal water quality laws.

According to the annual report of Jackson, Jackson does not have sufficient funding or manpower to address overflows and other decree mandates. Jackson also has equipment problems according to officials. According to the report two of the four trucks that clean grease and solids from clogged lines in Jackson were not available for repairs.

The April report included 259 sewage overflows. 182 of these were due to grease and solids clogging the lines. Many of the clogs are blamed on flushable wipes, which can cause backups and lead to foreign material buildup.

Another 60 overflows resulted from collapsed lines. Three were caused due to sewer pump failures. Ten were the result of excessive flow.

142 overflows remained unresolved at the time of the submission.

Abby Braman and Pearl Riverkeeper, an environmental watchdog group in the area, estimate that more than 52,000,000 gallons of sewage entered our environment during the first quarter 2022.

According to her Tuesday statement, that’s enough to fill 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools with raw sewerage. This is more sewage that was released in 2018 and 2019, together.

Jackson was urged by her to prioritise water and sewer funding in order to address these concerns.

Braman also took on the city for not informing the public about major spillages.

The city’s Sewer Overflow Response Plan, also handed down with its Decree, requires that it issue a press release and place temporary signs in areas where overflows pose a health hazard.

September 15, 2021 was the last public advisory. An overflow caused a section to burst along Eubanks Creek. This creek runs from Interstate 55 to Pearl River. The city’s news release archive has only one sewer-related notice since then. It was issued on March 11, asking people to not flush disposable wipes down their toilets.

Bramans counts suggest that more than a dozen additional public notices should be distributed.

14 I think were more than 1 million gallons. I don’t know what volume they consider significant. I asked the MDEQ and EPA to modify the wording and she replied that they would designate a volume for notification.

Jackson is currently negotiating terms of its consent decree and the federal government.

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