A halt to new sewer connections in the burgeoning Ooltewah area is possible after Hamilton County’s sewer authority illegally released 2 million gallons of raw sewage into Rogers Creek in just one year.
In a letter dated Thursday, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation wrote to Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority Executive Director Mark Harrison that 29 sanitary sewer overflows had occurred from October 2017 to the present.
One of those overflows happened last weekend at the Snow Hill pump station, sending raw sewage into the creek and across some paths of the nearby Champions Golf Course.
“To maintain compliance with your permit, you must implement a self-imposed moratorium in this area,” wrote Jennifer Innes, project manager with the Division of Water Resources.
In effect, that would mean no new sewer connections in the fastest-growing part of Hamilton County.