HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 10/19/2021 - Memorandum From Andrew Gingerich Re: Sanitary Sewer Overflow Into Edora Pond And Spring Creek
Utilities
electric · stormwater · wastewater · water
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.212.2900
V/TDD: Dial 711 for Relay Colorado
utilities@fcgov.com
fcgov.com/utilities
M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: October 13th, 2021
TO: Mayor Arndt and Councilmembers
FROM: Andrew Gingerich, Interim Utilities Deputy Director Water Field Operations
THROUGH: Kelly DiMartino, Interim City Manager
Theresa Connor, Interim Utilities Executive Director
RE: Sanitary Sewer Overflow into Edora Pond and Spring Creek
The purpose of this memo is to provide a summary of a sanitary sewer overflow incident that
occurred on Friday, Oct 8th including:
what occurred,
the immediate mitigation actions taken, and
ongoing efforts to monitor and remediate environmental impacts.
C&L Water Solutions (Contractor), a contractor hired by City of Fort Collins Utilities, has been
providing Cured in Place Pipe Lining (CIPP) services since June of 2020. CIPP is a trenchless
construction technique that rehabilitates the inside of aging wastewater pipes and effectively
extends the pipes useful life by over 50 years. These efforts have been prioritized in recent years
in the large diameter lines along Spring Creek due to age and material of pipe and evidence of
high infiltration flow. Large diameter pipes with high infiltration are a suspected contributor to
E. Coli in the stream and environment. Bypass pumping, which is a method of pumping
wastewater through temporary above ground pipes into a downstream manhole, is used when
completing the rehabilitation work.
On Friday, Oct. 8th at approximately 9:45 am the discharge bypass pumping pipe became
dislodged from a manhole in Spring Creek Trail immediately adjacent to Edora Pond. This
resulted in a sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) of raw sewage down the vegetated bank and into
Edora Pond and Spring Creek. An employee of the Contractor, assigned to pump and pipe
watch, noticed the incident and within minutes instructed the bypass operations to be shutdown
immediately. It is estimated that the SSO lasted about 10 minutes resulting in approximately
10,000 20,000 gallons of wastewater entering Edora Pond and Spring Creek.
The Contractor immediately took responsibility for the incident and reported the spill to City
Utilities staff who responded immediately to protect public health and the environment. Per City
Standard Operating Procedures, City Utilities staff took the following actions:
- Notification to the National Reporting Center (United Stated Environmental Protection
Agency), Larimer County Health Department and Colorado Department of Health and
Environment,
- Contacted Poudre Fire Authority for awareness and possible response support
- Contacted Parks Department to turn off non-potable sprinkler system,
- Contacted all immediate downstream irrigation and other water users,
- Immediate visual downstream monitoring of solids in ponds,
- Initiated Water Quality Sampling in Spring Creek upstream and downstream of the spill,
- Posted City signs directing public to fcgov.com/spills, and
- Posted Larimer County Health signs to inform public on healthy choices about how to
recreate in the area.
The Contractor worked in constant collaboration with City personnel while following their own
Standard Operating Procedures and took the following steps;
- Contractor took over required follow-up reporting activities to Colorado Department of
Health and Environment as the responsible party,
- Hired an environmental remediation subcontractor to assist in cleanup and next steps,
- Removal, appropriate disposal, and replacement of contaminated soils, and
- Immediate procedural changes to prevent discharge piping from becoming dislodged in
the future.
In the days following the spill the Parks Department did numerous visual checks of Spring Creek
and downstream ponds looking for environmental and wildlife impacts. No adverse
environmental impacts or fish kills were reported. On Monday, October 11 th the Contractor met
with City Staff and reported that they would be responsible for all costs related to the cleanup
and remediation, including City staff response time.
City Staff will continue to follow up on mitigation and remediation efforts in cooperation with
the Contractor, with an eye to taking all necessary action to address the spill as fully as possible
Council can anticipate receiving an update on major takeaways and next steps by the middle of
November 2021.
Please reach out with any additional questions.
CC: Sandra Bratlie, Special Projects Manager - Water Field Operations
Matt Zoccali, Senior Manager - Utilities Environmental & Regulatory Affairs