On the morning of Wednesday, February 17th while collecting water quality samples, Congaree Riverkeeper discovered a broken force main (large pressurized sewer pipe) spilling sewage into Stoops Creek. The spill is located downstream of Bush River Road and the railroad. Congaree Riverkeeper contacted the City of Columbia and DHEC who responded quickly and began working on a repair plan.
Congaree Riverkeeper believes the spill had been going on for at least 30 days. The total volume of the spill is likely in the millions of gallons.
The City and their contractor began pumping the sewage into the nearby Alpine Utilities wastewater treatment plant to provide some level of treatment around 9:00 am this morning. Crews are working now to divert the creek and repair the pipe.
SCE&G will release additional water into the Lower Saluda to flush the sewage sometime tomorrow morning.
Congaree Riverkeeper plans to collect bacteria samples from the river after the flush. They recommend people continue to avoid the Creek and the Lower Saluda River below I-20 until further notice.