At approximately 7:00 am on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, staff at the Northwest Regional Facility discovered a process tank by-passing upon arrival at the plant. It was determined that a process pump failed to stop running and the back-up telemetry notification system failed to call the operator resulting in an estimated 75,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater bypassing the tank with the majority being contained onsite and a portion recovered and returned to treatment.
Immediate remediation efforts and sampling were initiated by ONWASA. Based on sampling data it is believed a low volume may have entered Cow Horn Creek near the New River intersect. Daily monitoring of the stream will continue as needed.
The incident has been reported to the State of North Carolina Division of Water Quality and ONWASA will continue to follow all State requirements regarding further cleanup, sampling, and notifications.
