Over 450,000 gallons of untreated wastewater flowed into a tributary of Sandy Creek after a falling tree damaged a suspended sewer line in Durham, North Carolina, according to local news sources.
WRAL first reported the spill on Sunday, December 10. According to WRAL, staff from the City of Durham Department of Water Management had responded to an overflowing utility maintenance hole at 10:32 a.m. on Saturday, December 9. By 6:10 p.m.,
According to a City of Durham news release, the crew plugged the sewer main, set up a bypass pump, dammed the creek downstream and pumped the untreated wastewater back into the sewer system. The City of Durham says that it has found no damage to the environment.
CBS17 reported that the spill is larger than every other sanitary sewer overflow in 2023 combined.
