Talbot County, Maryland

03/11/2022

Category: Public Works

On Friday, March 11, 2022 at approximately 1:30 p.m., the Talbot County Sanitary District (Sanitary District) was contacted regarding a suspected discharge of sewage from a pressure release valve located in a vault near the intersection of Green and Locust Streets in St. Michaels. Personnel from the Sanitary District arrived on site and confirmed the discharge of approximately 200 gallons of raw sewage onto the surface of the ground. An investigation into the incident confirmed that a faulty pressure release valve was leaking and subsequently caused the wastewater discharge.

Sanitary District staff immediately contacted CHT Excavating, who arrived with a vacuum pumper truck to assist with the clean-up of the discharge. The faulty valve was isolated to prevent further discharge of wastewater until a replacement valve could be installed. Once the clean-up of the wastewater was completed, lime was added to the area of the discharge The Talbot County Health Department’s Office of Environmental Health was contacted regarding the discharge and confirmed that the wastewater was isolated to the immediate area of the spill. There was no evidence that wastewater had been discharged to navigable waters of the State. Based on the timely response by the Sanitary District, and the fact that the discharge was almost immediately recovered, the Office of Environmental Health determined that there was low to minimal impact to the public health.

To help reduce the risk of future failures, the Talbot County Sanitary District will be securing heavy grade polymer/plastic valves, which are less susceptible to corrosion. Once the new valves have arrived, the staff will begin installing them throughout the conveyance sanitary sewer system.

If the public has any questions regarding the public health determination they may contact Anne Morse, Director of Environmental Health at 410-770-6880 Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or after hours by contacting the Talbot County Operations Center at 410-822- 0095. The Operations Center will contact the Environmental Health Specialist on call.

If the public has questions regarding the discharge or the corrective action that was taken, they may contact Ray Clarke, County Engineer, at 410-770-817

wastewater