Isleton sewage overflows into surrounding rivers: are you at risk?
ISLETON - Sewage from the City of Isleton's Wastewater Plant has spilled into the surrounding Mokelumne, San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers. The city confirmed with CBS13 that the overflow happened on March 10 — just two days after our initial report.
"It is horrifying," said Mary Costello, who has lived in Isleton for nearly 10 years. "We cannot have that environmentally."
This past weekend's rain was the tipping point. It spilled the primary treated sewage into surrounding areas. Typically, the sewage would need to go through two additional steps: percolation and evaporation.
"The rainwater we have gotten, there has been so much," said David Pierson who lives in Isleton. "Everything is soaked and drenched."
Isleton's City Manager Chuck Bergson said it is not hazardous, but environmental experts are cautioning people.
"We do not know exactly what was in the sewage during that time, but, generally speaking, we are going to be concerned about any type of body contact, recreation or potential irrigation of crops," said UC Davis Professor Rob Atwill.
The Sacramento County Department of Public Health said it is in monitoring mode, but cautions against swimming or fishing in it.
"The main concern would be if there was any potential for drinking water to be contaminated," said Sacramento County Public Health spokeswoman Samantha Mott. "If anything changes, there would absolutely be notifications for communities impacted."
The January storms broke some of Isleton's sewage pipes, but now the challenge is finding which ones to fix.
"You cannot stop it until you fix it," said Pierson.
Bergson said he was meeting with FEMA and the state on Wednesday and applying for grants to help make those repairs to the pipes.
In the meantime, Isleton will continue pumping the sewage into the surrounding rivers. This primary treated sewage pumps into the Georgiana Slough and then the Reclamation District into the Mokelumne and San Joaquin Rivers. The city started doing this on March 11.
It will also continue trucking 100,000 gallons of sewage to Sacramento's Wastewater Treatment Plant in Elk Grove each day.
"It should have been addressed long ago, but this is so typical of Isleton," said Costello.
Costello also mentioned she had heard a rumor that sewage rates would increase, but Bergson said there is no plan to do this.
Atwill said the safest thing people can do right now is to let the water pass.
"It will move on downstream and continue to get more and more diluted as it mixes with non-diluted water," Atwill said.
CBS13 also spoke with the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES). It said it is aware of the problem and helping where it can. It also said it is not uncommon for these types of sewage spills to occur with the amount of rain the area has been getting.
Bergson said the city wants to eventually ditch the ponds and create a new sewage system, but for now, the focus is keeping the pools low and fixing the broken pipes.
The City of Isleton notified multiple emergency response agencies on Friday about the overflow including the State Water Quality Control Board, CAL OES, Sacramento County Emergency Services, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Reclamation District 407, and state and county emergency management agencies.
