(Source: The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri))
By Karen Dillon, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Oct. 31--Within hours after an estimated 1,000 gallons of sewage spilled late Wednesday into Weatherby Lake, Kansas City water officials contacted the state to report it.
But water officials did not contact the city of Weatherby Lake until 12:30 p.m. Friday, almost two days after the spill, Mayor Gerald Bos said.
"They're sometimes a little slow in getting hold of us," Bos said.
Colleen Doctorian, Water Services Department spokeswoman, said she did not know why employees did not contact Weatherby Lake officials until Friday.
Bernardo Garcia, department director, could not be reached for comment.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced Friday that it was investigating. The spill occurred at a Kansas City wastewater lift station near 8316 N.W. Forest Drive in Platte County, according to a DNR news release.
The Water Services Department on Thursday notified the DNR and reported that a power failure shut off the pumps at the lift station, causing sewage to overflow from a manhole into Weatherby Lake.
The state on Thursday took samples from the lake to determine if water quality had been affected. However, Thursday's rains probably contributed to even more bacteria in the lake, making it difficult to know the true impact of the spill, according to the DNR statement.
In September, Water Services Department employees working on a leak in south Kansas City went home for the weekend before fixing it. More than 3 million gallons of sewage spilled into a tributary of the Blue River. But the public wasn't notified until the DNR ordered the department to do so four days later.
The state considers sewage spills a threat to public health and the environment.
Bos said Weatherby Lake was trying to develop a system of notifying residents by phone when a sewage spill occurred.
To reach Karen Dillon, call 816-234-4430 or send e-mail to kdillon@kcstar.com.
-----
To see more of The Kansas City Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kansascity.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
