The state health department is investigating a spill of 44,000 gallons of raw sewage into Fountain Creek that occurred after a manhole in Colorado Springs became plugged during repairs to the city’s wastewater system.
The spill happened Thursday afternoon as Colorado Springs Utilities workers were repairing a sewer main in the southeast part of the city.
The utility was able to divert some of the sewage at a nearby wastewater treatment plant, but most of it ended up in Shook’s Run, a tributary of Fountain Creek, said utility spokesman Steve Berry.
“The men and women who tried to divert the spill are very upset that this happened,” Berry said. “We are taking it all very seriously.”
By this morning, the sewage had flowed into Pueblo where residents reported a foul odor emanating from Fountain Creek as it flows through the East Side neighborhood.
“I don’t care for fancy words – it smells like crap,” said Deborah Mestas, a an East Side resident who lives a few blocks from the creek.
The incident is the most recent in a series of spills that have polarized Colorado Springs and its downstream neighbor.
Both the Pueblo County District Attorney and the Sierra Club filed federal lawsuits last year against Colorado Springs Utilites over the spills, which have sent more than 377,000 gallons of sewage into Fountain Creek since last summer.
In October, the state health department fined the utility more than $110,000 and ordered the utility to inspect 131 sewer lines.
It was too early to say whether the most recent spill would lead to any kind of enforcement action, said Steve Gunderson, head of the department’s water quality control division.
“This is certainly something we didn’t want to see,” Gunderson said. “Fountain Creek just has so many problems.”
State environmental regulators have said Colorado Springs isn’t the only source of the Fountain’s pollution. Wildlife waste and runoff from lawns, farms, new homes and businesses, also play a role, they say.
The local health department routinely detects high levels of bacteria in Fountain Creek, and, since last summer, has warned people to stay out of the water.
“The levels fluctuate and we’ll see high numbers even when there hasn’t been a spill,” said Sarah Bruestle, a spokeswoman for the Pueblo County health department. “Of course when there is a spill, we’re very concerned.”
Berry said is constantly upgrading its wastewater system and plans to spend more than $250 million over the next 20 years on improvements.
“It would be unrealistic for us to say we’re going to have 100 percent system reliability, that is to say no spills,” Berry said. “But what I think is important for people to know is that we are working very hard to achieve 99.9 percent reliability. It just takes time.”
“Staff writer Kim McGuire can be reached at 303-820-1240 or at kmcguire@denverpost.com.
