Talbot County, Maryland

09/21/2021

Category: Public Works

On September 21, 2021 at approximately 6:45 a.m., staff from the Talbot County Sanitary District responded to an alleged sanitary sewer overflow at the Royal Oak Pump Station (Pump Station #1), located at the intersection of Maryland Routes 33 and Route 329, north of the Oak Creek Bridge. The County responders verified that a discharge of sewage occurred at the pump station and estimated that approximately 500 gallons of raw sewage was discharged from the pump station onto the paved parking lot, which is located in the vicinity of the pump station. The investigation into the discharge indicated that it was caused by a malfunction in the pump float tree located within the pump station. Repairs to the pump effluent floats were made immediately and the pump station was put back into service. As part of the remediation efforts, staff from the Talbot County Sanitary District contacted a vacuum pumper to remove the raw sewage discharge from the parking lot. Once the discharge was removed, the staff spread lime over the affected area.

The sewage discharge was reported to the Maryland Department of the Environment and to the Talbot County Health Department’s Office of Environmental Health. A representative from the Office of Environmental Health conducted a site visit to the pump station and verified that discharge was contained to the parking lot therefore confirming that there was no discharge of wastewater to the waters of the State. Based on this determination, no imminent threat to public health or the environment was found in association with the discharge.

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 taken they may contact Terry Martin, Environmental Engineer with the Talbot County Department of Public Works, at 410-770-8170