Crews Clean Up After Sewage Spill Into Perry Creek

Broken Pipe Spills Sewage Into Perry Creek

City crews planned to work into the weekend to clean up almost 2.25 million gallons of raw sewage that dumped into a north Raleigh stream, officials said Friday.

Erosion of a stream bank undermined an underground sewer pipe along Triangle Town Boulevard, between Triangle Town Center and Interstate 540, this week.

The broken pipe spilled untreated wastewater into Perry Creek, which flows into the nearby Neuse River.

The city Public Utilities Department learned of the spill by 11 a.m. Wednesday and repaired the pipe by Wednesday night, officials said.

But cleaning up the spill required isolating the sewage and pumping it out of Perry Creek, officials said.

Fresh water was pumped into the stream near the shopping mall Friday afternoon, and crews placed devices downstream to trap the sewage so it could be removed.

Perry Creek south of I-540 was cleaned by Friday night, officials said.

The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources was notified of the overflow, officials said, adding that no environmental damage had been reported.

The city could be cited by state regulators because of the spill.

Last year, a broken sewer pipe at a Cary pumping station dumped about 8 million gallons of raw sewage into Swift Creek. Lake Wheeler and Lake Benson had to be closed for several days because of high bacteria levels related to the spill.



26 Comments


Golo

Welcome to GOLO, where WRAL.com visitors can comment on stories and create profile pages, blogs and photo galleries.

You must be a registered WRAL.com user to use these tools. Click here to register or log in.

View Comments View Comments

Ask Anything
  1. Amanda Lamb
    10 questions with Crime Reporter Amanda Lamb

    WRAL Crime Reporter Amanda Lamb answers your questions about crime scenes, murder cases and much more.

  2. Eleanor Goettee
    10 questions with Wake school board member

    Eleanor Goettee answers your questions about teacher pay, year-round schools ...

  3. Steve Cohen
    10 questions with Cary EMS Chief Steve Cohen

    Steve Cohen answers your questions about saving lives and what to do in emergency situations.

Multimedia
  1. Hanna Tracking
    Tracking Hanna

    Meteorologists have been tracking Hanna, which has been a tropical storm and a hurricane.

  2. Raleigh Convention Center Interactive
    Raleigh Convention Center Interactive

    The Grand Opening of the new Raleigh Convention Center is Sept. 5 and 6.

  3. Republican Convention: Sarah Palin
    Campaign Trail Photos of the Week

    View photos from the past week on the campaign trail from AP photographers around the country.

  4. Drought Map
    N.C. Drought Maps Time Lapse Animation

    View a time lapse animation of drought conditions since April of 2007.

  5. Pops in the Park concert
    Pops in the Park concert

    WRAL's Pops in the Park concert was held at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre Sunday evening, Aug. 31.