50 gallons of fuel oil were dumped into a sewer system in Angola, Ind., leading to a temporary shutdown of the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
According to The News-Sentinel, officials were alerted to the spill employees at the Angola Wastewater Treatment Plant in northeastern Indiana noticed a petroleum smell.
About a half-inch of sludge was found floating in the plant. Craig Williams, superintendent of the plant said that petroleum can be harmful to bacteria used to treat waste.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management investigators found oil and grease inside of a catch basin and an open fuel tank in a home close to the plant. A resident has admitted to pouring two gallons of fuel into the sewer, but Williams reported that at least 50 gallons had been released into the sewer system.
IDEM spokeswoman Amy Harstook reported that there was no evidence that the oil affected the plant’s treatment process, or that untreated wastewater was discharged.
Source: The News-Sentinel
