Sewer Plant Overflows Into Schulenburg Creek

The sewer plant on Babylon Lane in Schulenburg overflowed last month.

Schulenburg officials told the Record that the incident happened on April 11 after one of the City’s industrial customers accidentally left a valve open.

Eric Cullen, the City’s Water and Wastewater Supervisor, said the material that escaped the plant consisted of about 250 gallons of foam and solids that were treated with chlorine.

“We had a shock load come from an industrial building,” Cullen said. “It gave us a high flow rate for about an hour, which caused clarifier sludge to come up to the top and over the weirs. The sludge went into chlorine chamber and got treated, and out in the creek it went.”

“It wasn’t really a spill, because everything that went into the receiving stream was treated,” he added. “It was not raw sewage.”

The City reported the incident to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the state agency that regulates municipal sewer systems. The City’s permit from TCEQ does not allow any solids or foam to be released from the plant, Cullen said.

Cullen said the City notified TCEQ within 24 hours, as required by law. As soon as the problem was detected, Cullen said, City workers used a vacuum trailer and skimming nets to remove the sewage from the creek.

Cullen said he has not heard from TCEQ since the City reported the problem.

“They may not follow up because it was such a small amount,” he said.

City Administrator Tami Walker said the “shock load” that caused the overflow resulted in an excessive amount of sewage sludge in the plant. She said the City has removed and hauled off 17 loads of sludge since the incident happened.

Walker said the City has not yet calculated costs for the cleanup. Schulenburg Operations Manager Darryl Moeller told the City Council last week that sludge hauling could continue for the next two or three weeks. Walker said the industrial customer agreed to assist the City with the cleanup costs. She said the City would hold a meeting with the customer to work on the details.