Local officials talk 6.5 million-gallon sewage spill in City of Tomahawk

TOMAHAWK – Several months after a large sewage spill occurred in the City of Tomahawk, local officials gathered to discuss the incident.

The spill appeared on the agendas for the September and October meetings of the Lincoln County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC).  

The committee first discussed the spill during its meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 17. Tyler Verhasselt, Lincoln County Emergency Management (LCEM) Director, walked the committee through a timeline of events.

According to Verhasselt, the City of Tomahawk estimated that a sewage main going into the City of Tomahawk Wastewater Treatment Plant on Southgate Dr. broke around Monday, July 7. The break occurred underneath a railroad track near the intersection of Southgate Dr. and Military Rd., roughly a half-mile north of the plant.

The city estimated that the leak was ongoing until it was discovered on Thursday, Aug. 7.

The wastewater leaked into a swampy area that flows into a cove connected to the Wisconsin River.

Verhasselt said the city isolated and redirected the leak before notifying the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

A point of confusion came from the reporting of the spill. City of Tomahawk Mayor Steve Taskay, during the October LEPC meeting, said the city’s position had always been that 6.5 million gallons of wastewater had been spilled. However, the initial DNR report said the incident involved 6,500 gallons.

DNR Wastewater Engineer Arthur Ryzak took responsibility for the confusion, saying during the October meeting that he may have misunderstood City of Tomahawk Wastewater Department Lead Rich Thiemer in their initial phone call, or he may have accidentally made an error in recording the numbers.

“It’s quite possible I just missed the three zeros on there,” Ryzak said.

October LEPC meeting

Numerous local and state officials were on hand for the Tuesday, Oct. 15 LEPC meeting.

Those joining the committee in the meeting included Taskay, Thiemer, Ryzak, City of Tomahawk Common Council member Will Garske and Lincoln County Health Department (LCHD) Director Shelley Cohrs.

During the meeting, committee members and officials discussed the spill; the subsequent responses from the city, county and state; emergency management responsibilities in the City of Tomahawk; steps taken after the spill; and areas in which local governments and agencies can improve going forward.

Leak discovery, repair and cleanup

Thiemer walked those in attendance through how the leak was discovered.

He explained that two sewage mains go to the plant in a “Y” formation, with each main having its own pump. The pumps are each powered every other day, meaning that the main with the hole in it would leak more on days when its pump was running, and less on days when its pump wasn’t running. Wastewater would still run through the main without the powered pump, but it would be less than the main with the powered pump.

Thiemer said he noticed that there had been an unusual decrease in flow going into the plant. He and several city water department employees, who were assisting Thiemer because he was the wastewater plant’s sole operator at the time, walked the main on Aug. 7 and discovered that a leak was occurring.

Within two to three hours, the pump was shut off and the main was isolated to stop the leak, and the DNR was notified. Cleanup and repair efforts began the following day.

According to a Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) report filed by Thiemer with the DNR, Thiemer contacted a local excavation company that is designated as the city’s emergency response company in such instances.

The report said silt fence was installed at the edge of the dig location, and an excavator and dump truck were used to haul saturated spoils to the grit pad at the plant, where processing would take place.

A hydrovac truck and a transfer pump were used to dewater the hole. The report said the transfer pump would send the liquid waste to the truck’s storage tank. The liquid was then emptied from the truck onto the grit pad for processing.

“These decisions were made to reduce as much as we could the number of contaminants in the area,” the report stated.

When city employees were able to access the cast iron pipe, which was installed in 1952, a 2-inch by 3.5-inch hole was discovered, according to the report. The hole was fixed with a repair clamp, after which, clear stone was packed about one foot to 1.5 feet above the main. Dry soil was added, followed by black dirt, which was leveled and seeded. Mulch blanket was applied to the entire excavation site, the report said.

The leak was ultimately repaired within 24 hours of discovery.

Thiemer said the lift stations do not have flow meters, and there is no alarm system to alert plant staff of a leak. Plant employees rely on calculations based on pump pressure and how much wastewater is entering the plant to know if operations are normal, of if there’s an issue.

“This is all mechanical, mathematical,” Thiemer said.

Committee member Jennifer Gartmann asked Thiemer if the spill could’ve gone on longer if it hadn’t been discovered on Aug. 7.

“It could’ve, if we wouldn’t have walked the line,” Thiemer stated.

Thiemer noted that the main broke in a swampy area where there’s no human traffic, which also contributed to the delay in the discovery of the leak.

Ryzak said Thiemer followed state protocols by reporting the spill to the DNR within 24 hours of discovery and submitting the SSO report within five days.

City, county, state responses

The committee and local officials also discussed how the City of Tomahawk, Lincoln County and the DNR responded to the leak.

Taskay explained that the DNR identified an area that was affected by the spill. After conducting testing outside the impacted area, the DNR discovered no evidence of contamination. Taskay said there was no need to notify households outside the initially-identified area because test results showed areas further from the spill site were not affected. If evidence of additional contamination had been found, the DNR would’ve expanded its testing area, Taskay said.

Letters were sent from the city to households in the impacted area on Thursday, Aug. 21, two weeks after the leak was discovered. The letters notified the residents of the spill and said the city was awaiting results from water tests being done by the DNR. The city also offered to conduct private well water testing by request.

Thiemer said he conducted well water testing on Thursday, Aug. 28, three weeks after the spill was detected and the main repaired.

According to Verhasselt, tests results showed that there was no danger posed to private wells or the public. In its evaluation and assessment of the spill, the DNR found no fish kills, he said.

Ryzak explained that the highest concentrations of pollutants were likely in the wetland area and the cove. Upon entering the Wisconsin River, a “massive amount of dilution” of the wastewater likely occurred due to the large volume of water in the river, he said.

Committee member Michael Caylor expressed concern regarding the time that elapsed between the onset and discovery of the spill and the testing that occurred.

“It was done, but there was such a delay that we really don’t know the true effect of what happened there, and what contamination was in its peak times,” Caylor stated.

Cohrs said that at the recommendation of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), LCHD mailed targeted letters to 18 households, providing information on potential health impacts of swimming and consuming fish.

A banner regarding the sewer main break was shared along the top of the city’s website. The banner said the issue had been resolved and that the city was “working with state and local officials on response to the break.”

The banner said questions could be directed to Thiemer.

The banner was no longer on the city’s website as of Tuesday, Oct. 21.

Steps taken after the spill

Thiemer explained what steps have been taken in the wake of the spill.

He said a second operator has been hired at the plant and was in training at the time of the October meeting. Thiemer said the new employee is a “numbers guy” who will “help (him) out a lot.”

Thiemer plans for the plant to fill out a weekly Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR), which may help with detecting issues more quickly. Currently, wastewater plants must complete a DMR at least once a month.

Thiemer said he is going to ask the city council to hire an engineering firm that currently employs two former plant employees. Firm representatives would act as consultants “so I get stuff right,” according to Thiemer.

There have also been discussions about adding a flow meter to the plant. Thiemer said he would have to do more research into the subject.

Updates will be made to the city’s capacity, management, operations and maintenance (CMOM) document, which, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is a “flexible, dynamic framework for municipalities to identify and incorporate widely-accepted wastewater industry practices to better manage, operate and maintain collection systems; investigate capacity constrained areas of the collection system; and respond to sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) events.”

“I just wanted to show you that it didn’t stop when the break happened,” Thiemer stated. “We’re still thinking about how to do a better job.”

Emergency management responsibilities

The committee and local officials also discussed emergency management responsibilities within the City of Tomahawk.

According to the “Civil Emergencies” section of the city’s municipal code, the Chief of Police – currently Al Elvins – is the city’s civil defense director unless otherwise designated by the city council.

Under the statute, “civil defense” is defined as “the preparation for and the carrying out of all emergency functions other than functions for which the military forces are primarily responsible, to minimize and repair injury and damage resulting from disaster caused by enemy attack, sabotage or other hostile action or by fire, flood or other natural causes.”

Verhasselt said that under state statue, every municipality must have a head of emergency management. According to Verhasselt, per city code, Elvins is the city’s emergency management leader.

Taskay noted there is currently not a designated city emergency management director beyond what is laid out in the municipal code, but he anticipates that the city will further clarify emergency management responsibilities or make an official appointment in the future.

Areas of improvement

Several areas of improvement were identified in the aftermath of the spill.

Thiemer, who stepped into his current position in March, said he’s still new to the paperwork and other responsibilities that come with the role.

“But I’m learning, and I want to continue to learn,” he said, adding that he hopes such meetings provide positive outcomes.

“I want to do the right thing,” Thiemer stated. “(It’s not) something we’re trying to cover up. … I want to do right by the people of Tomahawk.”

Gartmann noted that by gathering local officials to discuss the incident, the committee hopes that the relevant governments, agencies and organizations can be better prepared for such events in the future.

Taskay said he anticipates that the city will establish standard operating procedures for such incidents.

Communication with the county is an area in which the city will look to improve, according to Garske.

Caylor opined that local governments and agencies “could have done better” with immediate public notification of the spill. He also commended city officials for attending the meeting, saying there was “no unresponsiveness” to the committee on the city’s part.

Verhasselt opined that although LCEM “engaged all of our partners through email, I think it would be a good idea, in the future, that we jump on a call together.”

Verhasselt also stressed the importance of having “a whole community approach” in response to such incidents.

“Lincoln County is a rural county, right?” he said. “We may not be rich in wealth, but we are rich in community. And when one community is affected across all our different municipalities, we all come together, and I think that is evident and present today by all of our partners being here together.”

Committee member Elizabeth McCrank supported Verhasselt’s sentiment, saying a collaborative means of handling such events “is going to serve us all best as we move forward.”

Public comment

No members of the public initially utilized the meeting’s public comment period, which appeared on the agenda before discussion of the spill. However, after nearly an hour of discussion regarding the incident, the committee returned to the public comment item on the agenda, allowing individuals in attendance to voice their concerns.

One individual asked for information on how the area impacted by the spill will be evaluated going forward. Ryzak explained that the DNR’s investigation is ongoing, and monitoring of the area will continue. Ryzak said he’s spoken with DNR colleagues about a “longer-term plan” to make sure the area is protected and safe, noting that such a plan will likely require coordination with the local governments and agencies represented at the meeting.

A second individual said they learned about the spill the morning of the meeting.

“I know I’m not in the affected area, but I’m downriver from it,” the individual stated. “I wish I had gotten a letter. I wish I had been told that this had happened, and that it had been going on for a month, when my niece is in the water, and my dogs are in the water. I just wish I had known.”