WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Scientists say E. coli levels in samples taken from a sewage leak at the Limestone Wastewater Treatment Plant in Williamson County's Grassland area were "maxxed out."
The small sewage plant has racked up more than a decade's worth of fines and citations. Williamson County engineers were on site recently and are considering issuing a citation to the company for an illegal leak, pending more information and test results. That fine could add up to $2,000 or more.
Neighbors say they are still finding toilet paper where they shouldn't.
"I had to collect a little bit of water from the top of the manhole, and then some soggy toilet paper in a jar," Autum Moore said.
Moore lives in the River Rest neighborhood and says the discovery is not unusual when walking the trails near her home.
"It was actively flowing into Cartwright Creek. It was gross and smelly," Moore said.
For more than a decade, researchers and residents have reported sewage leaks flowing into Cartwright Creek, which feeds the Harpeth River. State regulatory agencies have levied thousands of dollars in fines and citations.
"We had the Christmas day overflow into the waterway. We have the Super Bowl Sunday effluent overflow, which wasn't supposed to be happening — it was allegedly treated water — then we have this current most recently leak this last Tuesday," Moore said.
"The ongoing issue of them not being good stewards and having regular leaks, which the argument there it's due to excess stormwater at a failing facility, and I think those things are true. There's a lot of lost faith with this company," Moore said.
Moore collected a water sample before it reached the creek. Ryan Jackwood of the Harpeth Conservancy tested it.
"I ran our test and it's still maxed out our test," Jackwood said.
Jackwood said rain events can complicate results.
"Often times when we have these rain events it may be stormwater that gets mixed in with the sewage and we may see some overflow up there, so there could've been some stormwater in the sample, but it certainly was not predominantly stormwater because we would've seen a lot lower numbers," Jackwood said.
While I was following Moore to see the spill, contractors were on site cleaning up to mitigate the stench. As they worked, Moore said: "Hey, we don't wanna get in your way, we're just checking out how y'all are doing — great job, thank you."
Neighbors say they know this routine almost too well.
"We think it's just stormwater. We don't see any debris or storm or solids — when I came down here at 7:30 to take a sample, the ground was littered with toilet paper. It smelled like raw sewage. It was disgusting," Moore said.
"It concerns me the reporting is not accurate. Can we trust them?" Moore said. "I have much better ways I wanna spend my time — playing with my kids in the pool, playing in the creek, playing in this field when it feels safe. Much better things to do with my time."
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) confirmed the plant operator notified the agency of a sanitary release from two manholes on May 26, citing the overwhelming amount of rainfall that week.
"The operator has submitted the required 24-hour notification to the department and kept the department updated on the utility's corrective actions and progress on the situation," TDEC Senior Communications Advisor Jennifer Donnals said.
Donnals said TDEC's Division of Water Resources had not yet received results from recent E. coli testing but had received pictures from the utility, videos from neighbors, and a photo of an overflow notice that Central States Water Resources sent to its customers.
"Field office staff has advised the utility of the neighbors' information so it may assess the information to accurately describe the non-compliance on the required 5-day follow-up report," Donnals said.
Limestone's Strategic Communications Manager Michele Martise said crews conducted inspections and did not observe any flow from the system into the stream.
"Following the recent heavy rainfall event, crews did respond to an overflow at a manhole caused primarily by stormwater infiltration, implemented containment measures, and have continued monitoring the area," Martise said.
Martise said the company has requested additional information from the state about when the overflow footage was filmed.
"We did contain the overflow; we would be happy to investigate further if that information can be shared with us," Martise said.
Martise also addressed an upcoming Tennessee Public Utility Commission proceeding, saying it "constitutes the second phase of a rate adjustment previously approved by the Commission as part of Limestone's general rate case."
"The information provided to the Commission relates to implementation of the already-approved adjustment using updated revenue and billing data. The Commission is currently deliberating on the information in the record," Martise said.
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