Aug. 26--City of Milledgeville Water Department officials are investigating the causes of a sewage overflow caused by malfunctions at the city's Fishing Creek pumping station Monday afternoon.

Milledgeville Water and Sewer Director Barry Jarrett told The Union-Recorder that visitors to the Oconee River Greenway notified his department Monday afternoon about a sewage overflow that was causing sewage to evacuate a manhole covering near a wetland area at the Greenway.

Jarrett said a pump at the city's Fishing Creek Pumping Station stopped working, causing the overflow that manifested itself on the Oconee River Greenway. The initial pump problem was exacerbated by a malfunction in the pumping station's telemetry system, which sends water and sewer system data via telephone to alert water and sewer system employees in case of a problem.

Jarrett said the water and sewer department is investigating both the pump malfunction and the failure of the telemetry system. Jarrett said he is working with water and sewer department personnel to put in place measures to safeguard against future telemetry malfunctions.

According to the department's calculations, the sewage spill was not severe enough to warrant its designation as a major spill, but -- according to procedure -- the Environmental Protection Division has been notified about the incident. Jarrett said a full report will be submitted by the Milledgeville Water and Sewer Department to the EPD in the coming days.

Oconee River Greenway Authority Executive Director Heather Langston told The Union-Recorder that city crews did an excellent job cleaning up the spill and returning the area to its normal condition as quickly as possible.

But Langston also said the situation marks another instance in which the use of the sewer right-of-way for a public park benefited the community.

"I have no idea how long this problem could have gone on had someone on the Greenway not been there to see it," she said.

Langston said this is not the first time the Greenway has helped local officials diagnose a problem with city and county water infrastructure.

An engineer assessing a wetland area before the implementation of a Greenway boardwalk diagnosed a leak in one of the water towers on Georgia Military College property abutting the Greenway, Langston told The Union-Recorder.

"These are the kinds of things we can help keep up with," she said.

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