GATLINBURG, Tenn. - Officials say they are searching for two workers missing after a wastewater treatment failed near the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and spilled millions of gallons of sewage.
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency says a holding tank failed this morning at the Gatlinburg wastewater treatment plant, sending possibly millions of gallons of sewage into the Little Pigeon River.
TEMA spokesman Jeremy Heidt says between 1.5 and 3 million gallons of sewage spilled this morning.
Heidt says some of it entered the river that flows between the lanes of U.S. 441, also called the Spur, between the Smoky Mountain tourism centers of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
Eric Brakins, assistant city manager for the city of Pigeon Forge, tells The Associated Press his city is helping look for the two workers.