Pair of Wastewater Spills Dump Thousands of Gallons

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA -- A pair of overflows within two days of each other dumped thousands of gallons of wastewater and raw sewage in Gwinnett County.

The first, on Monday, happened at the Tanglewood Pump Station on Tanglewood Drive in Snellville.

County officials, reporting the spills as they are required to under state law, said about 2,048 gallons of raw sewage was dumped into Watson Creek after a pipe failed.

Once the leak was reported, it was stopped within 45 minutes, public information officer Karen Shields wrote in the report.

Wet soil was hauled off, the area was backfilled with fresh dirt and signs were posted letting residents know of the spill.

Two days later, on Wednesday, a wastewater manhole overflowed at 1700 Summer Ridge Lane in Lawrenceville.

The cause of the overflow, according to the county, was someone dumping grease.

The spill hit 6,432 gallons before county water resources workers were able to get it stopped. The wastewater flowed into a tributary of Beaver Ruin Creek, the county reported.