Another wastewater spill hits river

Stephanie Morris lives about a quarter-mile downstream from where the Liberty Hill South Fork Wastewater Treatment Plant discharges into the South San Gabriel River. One day in March, she noticed white foam coming down the river and decided to see what was causing it.

As she neared the discharge point, she said, she saw several inches of solids discoloring the normally white limestone river bed and bank. Morris said it felt like a "punch in the stomach."

She called the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the commission sent investigators who found 18 inches of wastewater solids at the discharge point March 18, according to the state agency's report. Nine days later, the city of Liberty Hill notified the commission that there had been a spill of 3,000 gallons of treated wastewater containing some solids from the wastewater plant.

It was the second unauthorized discharge into the river from the treatment plant in 10 months, according to TCEQ reports. After the first incident, officials told residents they would be more transparent about sharing information about the plant. 

Now several people who live along the South San Gabriel River say they are angry they never learned about the latest wastewater spill until the TCEQ report was issued in May. It echoed what happened last summer, when residents learned through a TCEQ report that the dumping of sludge by the plant was the cause of a blanket of algae in the river that spring.

RELATED: Report: Sludge dumped into river by wastewater plant caused algae

Liberty Hill Mayor Rick Hall and Williamson County Commissioner Valerie Covey had promised to keep people updated about monthly discharges from the plant during a meeting with residents in January but never did, said Georgetown resident LaWann Tull.

"We were never told about anything, much less 18 inches of solids," she said.

"We are working to keep Liberty Hill in compliance so people can go in the river, let their dogs out in it and let their grandkids in," Tull said.

Her church used to perform baptisms at her riverfront property before the algae problems cropped up in 2018, she said.

Hall did not respond last week to requests for comment, and Covey was on vacation and could not be reached.

According to Buie & Co., a public relations firm hired by the city of Liberty Hill, there was a misunderstanding about who would distribute the monthly reports to interested residents after the January town hall meeting.

The city is working to create a webpage that will have regular updates "for situations like this, which will also have a place where anyone can sign up for email updates," the company said Friday. "The mayor has also committed to sending direct email updates to all interested residents moving forward."

The company said the city staff has fixed an alarm system at the plant that had been damaged, has improved the way it cleans filters at the plant and now has a vacuum truck going out weekly to the discharge area "to ensure we keep anything from getting into the river."

Another Georgetown resident who lives along the South San Gabriel River, Louise Bunnell, said she was upset with the Liberty Hill officials.

"When I first found out about the (3,000-gallon spill in March), I was absolutely shocked," she said. "The city of Liberty Hill knew about the solids the day the TCEQ told them to clean it up, but they didn't reach out to us to say they were having an issue and to stay out of the water."

RELATED: Differing opinions about source of algae during Liberty Hill town hall

Partially treated sewage can contain bacteria and viruses that could pose a health concern for those in contact with river water, including activities such as swimming, said Brian McGovern, a TCEQ spokesman.

The TCEQ report about the 18 inches of solids foundnear the plant said that on March 18, investigators told Liberty Hill's public works director, Wayne Bonnet, that the city needed to clean up the solids and that Bonnet initially said he wasn't aware of what would have caused it. The notification form the city later sent the TCEQ about the spill said it was caused by construction striking the lines used to monitor and run the plant remotely.

The report also said that after receiving complaints, investigators had found Jan. 25 that the wastewater treatment plant had made an unauthorized release of chlorine into the river. Liberty Hill's wastewater discharge permit does not authorize the discharge of chlorine since the city uses ultraviolet disinfection, McGovern said.

"In sufficient concentrations, chlorine can have detrimental effects on aquatic life," he said.

A wastewater treatment plant is required to notify local government officials and media about spills under certain circumstances, according to TCEQ regulations. Those circumstances include if a spill of any size will affect a public or private source of drinking water. They also include when a spill of 50,000 gallons or more occurs within half a mile of a public or private source of drinking water. 

All spills of 100,000 gallons or more require a wastewater treatment facility to notify government officials and local media, according to TCEQ regulations.

The Liberty Hill South Fork Wastewater Treatment Plant has a permit to discharge up to 1.2 million gallons of treated wastewater a day into the river but ultimately will be allowed to discharge 4 million gallons per day into the river, McGovern said. The plant discharged an annual average of 680,000 gallons a day of treated wastewater into the South San Gabriel River from April 2018 to April 2019, he said.

The plant began operating in January 2018 and replaced an older plant the city operated with the same name and near the same site, Bonnet has said. He also has said the city of Liberty Hill was “using the best technology we can obtain to make sure we are doing the best we can as far as the environment.”