100,000 Gallons Of Raw Sewage Overflows Into Wicomico River - WMDT 47 News - Delmarva's Choice

SALISBURY, Md. - 100,000 gallons - that's how much sewage reportedly overflowed into the Wicomico River after a malfunction at the South Side Pumping Station on Ridge Road.

"When you have a public sewer system and water system that is old like ours is, what you have lots of times is water getting into the system. What it's going to do is flush everything out, it pushes all the trash and debris and grit clogging the system into one place," Mayor Jim Ireton said.

It took crews nearly 6 hours to stop the flow and start cleaning up. "We have taken all the other pump stations and rerouted them in other directions until we can get this one to do what it's supposed to do," Mayor Ireton said.

A few residents we spoke with didn't seem to know much of what happened, but they do say the noise from the trucks and smell from the sewage was pretty bad. Another resident says she thinks the city has done a good job in handling the situation. The mayor says sewage backed up into four homes, and those residents have been given insurance forms to turn into the city.

As for any health concerns, the Wicomico County Health Department advises residents to avoid areas of Ridge Road and Terrie Court, as well as the Wicomico River, which may still harbor contaminants. "They're in the process of continuing the cleanup and liming the affected areas which will deactivate any pathogens that may be present," Dennis DiCintio, Director of Environmental Health said.

It might be a week before sewage to clears out of the river, but we're told there have been no real changes in nitrogen levels. "When you get out to that end of the river where the river starts to expand and get very wide, you have what's called flow. And what it does, it oxidates any sort of pollution very quickly," Mayor Ireton said.