Due to heavy rain this week, the City of Nacogdoches Wastewater Treatment Plant has been overwhelmed and the capacity of the system is at its maximum. This has resulted in an overflow of rainwater and sanitary sewage at a manhole near the plant into Lanana Creek in excess of 100,000 gallons. The environmental threat is minimal as the overflow was 95% rainwater.
The facility received maximum inflows of combined wastewater and stormwater. To prevent flooding that would severely damage equipment and productivity, the plant was placed in emergency bypass mode, where it will remain until water levels decrease. This excess rainfall has resulted in 4 times the normal amount of water flowing through the plant. The plant is designed to handle 12.88 million gallons of water per day, but at the time the overflow occurred, it was treating nearly 21 million gallons.
Texas Commission Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has been notified and all required notifications have been issued to media and other City of Nacogdoches officials.
The City of Nacogdoches plans to update the media when the plant begins to operate normally.
