KTUL.com - Tulsa, Oklahoma - Coverage You Can Count OnCrews Cleaning Up Raw Sewage Spill In Owasso

Crews Cleaning Up Raw Sewage Spill In Owasso

The city of Owasso and a private contractor are taking steps to clean up a raw sewage spill east of town.

The spill happened Friday night near 12100 E. 74th street. Crews near there were working to replace a man hole.

To do this, they put in a temporary line and pump to route raw sewage around the work site.

Work on the new manhole and pipeline was finished, and crews were allowing its seals to finish curing.

Public works project administrator John Seary said a rock clogged the pump around 10:20pm. Crews stationed at the site around-the-clock noticed the leak.

Seary said the contractor estimates that raw sewage spilled out for about 15 minutes. Workers then routed the sewer into its new permanent piping underground, and the leak was stopped.

A resident near the site sent pictures to KTUL.com showing sewage puddles in their yard.

Seary said the contractor and city were taking all steps necessary to clean up the standing sewage. They are sprinkling disinfectant called HGH into the puddles.

"It's a serious issue, but not a major ecological disaster," Seary said in a phone interview. He tells KTUL.com that Owasso is reporting the incident to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.

Officials don't belive any of the raw sewage made it to tributaries of Bird creek. The contractor said most of the dirty water was pumped back into the sewer system.