A city employee at the Blue Ridge Wastewater Treatment Plant reported an incidental spill last Friday night, July 29.
Plant Superintendent James Weaver said the leak was due to a broken line.
According to Weaver, a passerby noticed water in the road and reported it around 11:30 p.m. Friday night.
City employees were able to respond to the call by 11:45 p.m. and took the broken line “out of service,” which stopped the spill to clear the way for repair.
Weaver said, “It took several hours for it (the spill) to make its way down to Industrial Park Road.” He stated that the spill happened downstream from Blue Ridge Lake, meaning the lake was not contaminated.
Any contamination that occurred from the spill has now been contained. Weaver said, “We put containment and posted notices in the area.” He also said that the health department and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division were contacted.
The McCaysville water plant received a call around 3 a.m. Saturday morning in regard to the 11:30 p.m. spill. The Blue Ridge plant, at that time, estimated that the spill was approximately 50,000 gallons as shown on a Blue Ridge Waste Water Spill Notice.
The McCaysville water plant was ordered to shut down nearly four hours after the initial spill and re-started at 10 a.m. Saturday morning according to a McCaysville water plant employee.