From a news release:
Full power to the Moccasin Bend Waste Water Treatment Plant was restored this morning around 3:30 a.m. As of 4:30 a.m., the plant was up and running at full capacity and no longer utilizing generator power. All overflows caused by the power outages have been contained and are no longer releasing untreated combined sanitary and storm water waste into the Tennessee River.
Approximately 137 million gallons of untreated combined sanitary and storm water waste was released into the river due to the power failure. In context, this overflow event represents approximately 0.17 percent of yesterday’s total flow of river water released from TVA’s Chickamauga Dam. An estimated 80 billion gallons of water flowed through the dam yesterday. Recent storms causing excess storm water runoff and the large amount of water flowing through the river resulted in a diluted overflow and minimized the impact.
The overflow area under the Market Street Bridge was the only area that impacted the river bank, and this location will be cleaned and sanitized this morning.
“We would like to thank EPB, Triad Electrical Contractors and members of the Moccasin Bend Waste Water Plant Operations and Maintenance staff for their prompt response to this power outage and their diligence in getting this situation resolved as quickly as possible,” said Waste Resources Director Jerry Stewart. “This was a complex electrical failure that required more extensive repairs to the plant’s electrical infrastructure than originally envisioned.”
The proper authorities were notified of the overflow event and the City will continue to monitor the situation.