Sep. 30--An estimated four million to six million gallons of sewage a day are escaping into the Ocmulgee River, all at locations within public park space, as a result of efforts to prevent the collapse of Macon's levee.

A corroded sewage pipe that pierces the levee at Central City Park caused a sinkhole during last week's heavy rains. Extensive sandbagging was required a week ago to prevent the rising river from rushing in and potentially breaching the levee. To cut off the suction caused by the flow of sewage, Thursday the Macon Water Authority shut down the Main Street lift station, which pumps sewage through that portion of sewer line.

"We did not want to see the failure of the levee," said Ray Shell, the authority's assistant director. "The (U.S. Army) Corps of Engineers was right alongside of us throughout this thing, and they concurred with our fix."

This was a turnaround from last Wednesday, when authority officials said the levee was in no danger.

Shutting down the lift station meant none of the sewage from the east side of the river could reach a treatment plant, and it began overflowing Thursday at two places along the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail and on the funeral mound loop trail in the Ocmulgee National Monument.

Tuesday, sewage was shooting into the air from beneath a concrete slab at the Spring Street boat ramp. Downstream on the river walk, sewage rushed in a torrent into the river.

The lift station pumps were shut down Thursday, then their valves were closed completely Saturday because the river had not dropped and more rain was falling, Shell said.

Darryl Macy, conveyance and distribution manager for the authority, said the authority did not discover the resulting sewage spills until the river dropped somewhat Saturday, but the authority is assuming that spills started Thursday when the pumps shut down. He said the authority doesn't know how much sewage has escaped, but he estimated four million to six million gallons a day since Thursday.

Shell said an authority contractor is working to bypass the broken concrete sewer pipe, which would allow the Main Street lift station to operate again.

The contractor has installed above-ground pipes through Central City Park to move sewage from the Riverside Drive area to the Lower Poplar sewage treatment plant. For sewage from the east side of the river, a temporary bypass pipe is being installed over the Ocmulgee to cross the top of the levee. Shell said Tuesday he thought that would be finished within two days. Barring more rain, it should end the sewage spills, he said.