In Wylie, Texas, thousands of gallons of wastewater spilled at the North Texas Municipal Water District’s site. According to district officials, the wastewater flowed into the far northwest area of a lake.
According to CBSDFW, the water district had a release of domestic wastewater from the Wilson Creek Regional Wastewater Plant in Allen that was not fully treated.
District officials say the discharged happened during a heavy thunderstorm and power outage. The treatment process was not completed because of the power outage, according to CBSDFW. A little under 28,000 gal of wastewater spilled at the site and flowed into Lavon Lake.
“It is unbelievable that they could dump that much crap into the water,” said Joel Ledbetter, a resident who saw the waste being dumped, to CBSDFW.
According to Ledbetter, he was fishing when he started to smell sewage.
“So I went around the bend from where I was fishing from and there was just mats, layers, islands of sewage just floating in the lake,” Ledbetter said.
According to CBSDFW, the water district crews have been sent to clean up the water and district officials said they have notified government agencies.
According to Ledbetter, it was not raw sewage. However, he saw condoms, drug bags, toilet paper and a water district hard hat.
“If it was good sewage that wasn’t going to be a problem, I don’t know why today they would come out and start cleaning it up,” he said to CBSDFW.
The water district has provided drinking water, according to CBSDFW. However, district officials warn that people using private drinking water supply wells within one-half of a miles of the site should distill or boil their water.
The district also warns the public that they should avoid contact with waste material in the lake. Also, anyone who has come in contact with it should bath and wash their clothes thoroughly and as soon as possibly.