House Bill 1160, which the North Carolina General Assembly enacted in July 1999, requires that municipalities, animal operations, industries, and others who operate waste handling systems issue a public notice when untreated wastewater of 15,000 gallons or more enters surface waters.
In accordance with the regulation, the following public notice has been prepared and issued to media in the affected county:
On September 15, 2018 at 10:30 a.m., the City of Sanford, located in Lee County, discovered discharges of untreated wastewater from several manholes that lasted for 54.5 hours. The overflow was caused by severe rain conditions associated with Hurricane Florence.
The overflow locations were:
- Manhole 1308 at Shoreline Drive and Knollwood Drive;
- Manhole 1833 at 522 Sunset Drive;
- Manhole 1887 at Market Street and Hickory Avenue;
- Manhole 1912 at Second Street and Sycamore Street; and
- Manhole 2274 at 305 E. Rose Street.
An estimated amount of 19,920 gallons of untreated wastewater were discharged during this time. The discharge entered an unnamed tributary feeding Big Buffalo Creek of the Cape Fear basin. These sites will be raked of debris and limed according guidance from the state of North Carolina.
The Division of Water Quality was notified of the event on September 16, 2018 and is reviewing the matter. For more information, contact the City of Sanford's Public Works Service Center at 919-775-8247 or the Division of Water Quality's Raleigh regional office at 919-733-7015.