Blocked pipe sends raw sewage flowing into Auburn Ravine Creek
A plugged line sent raw sewage flowing into fragile Auburn Ravine Creek Tuesday. A city of Auburn Public Works Department estimate calculated 90 gallons flowed into the creek. But a Save Auburn Ravine Salmon and Steelhead spokesman said his group believes the amount of the spill to be much more. Jack Sanchez, founder of the fish and river preservation group, said a member of his organization reported the spill to Placer County environmental health officials Monday evening but no action was taken. SARSAS had received two reports about a terrible stench by then, he said. “They sent someone after dark and couldn’t find anything,” Sanchez said. “It ran all night. That’s a tremendous amount of sewage.” Bernie Schroeder, Auburn Public Works engineering division manager, said the city was called out at about 11 a.m. Tuesday and discovered a manhole overflowing at the back of Pace Auto Sales. The sewage was flowing from the manhole over the bank into the creek at a rate of about three gallons a minute, Schroeder said. City employees witnessed about 30 minutes of overflow caused by the blockage, she said. Normal flows in the pipe were restored after rags were removed, Schroeder added. The section of the ravine is an exposed area covered in blackberry bushes next to a strip of businesses along the 300-block of Grass Valley Highway in Auburn. Lisa Kodl, of Auburn Bike Works, 350 Grass Valley Highway, said the sewage stench was strong in the morning but eventually cleared out. Sanchez said steelhead runs are going to be impacted by a spill that highlights the fragile nature of a stream running through the city. “It’s terrible that they can’t stop polluting the Auburn Ravine,” he said.
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Yea time to shut all these sewer lines down and start digging folks, outdoor toilets. Some people called them the 100 yard dash. But at least it didn't seem to bother the fish.
Auburn must get their act together to stop the effluent of raw sewage into the Ravine. This is not an isolated incident, it seems to happen pretty regularly. Of course people must stop putting things down the toilet that don't belong in the sewer system, like rags.
We must all care.
Could someone post a picture of a fish in a stream that flows through the city? Please do not send pictures of estuary trout.
Hi Jon,
There are plenty of accounts of fish sightings in the upper reaches of Auburn Ravine above Hwy. 80 and Hwy 49 but that is not the point. The city estimate of 90 gallons of raw sewage is the amount they observed being spilled just during the 30 minutes while they were clearing the sewer main. The manhole had been overflowing for at least 24 hours and maybe much longer, at a rate of more than 3 gallons per minute. Do the math. Hundreds or thousands of gallons flowed into the creek and down stream where endangered steelhead and threatened salmon are spawning. We all need to be aware of the conditions in our waterways and to protect them. If you see raw sewage flowing anywhere call 911 and report it. And stay around until the emergency crews show up.
How many dollars have we as Auburn residents paid toward our new sewer system for the last 10 years via our property taxes to "rebuild" our aging sewer system? How much has actually been done? Where has our money gone besides the "City of Auburn Sewer" vans they drive around in?
I am amazed by how negative the people of this town are. We live in a world where mistakes occur on a daily basis. Someone flushes rags down the toilet and clogs a sewer line. The city is notified, comes out to inspect the problem, and fixes the problem. Reading some of the comments on here, you would think that someone intentionally placed Uranium in the creek. The sewer fees that you pay go towards more than "City of Auburn Sewer" vans you see that you see driving around. Those vans have television equipment which the city uses to check the sewer system on a daily basis. They then have crews come out and repair any damage they find. Please get off your high horses people and don't always rush to such a negative judgement. I by no means want to endanger steelhead, salmon, or any animal for that matter, but the world isn't a perfect place and mistakes can occur.
Auburn Ravine Creek is really going down the the crapper, no wait, the crap is going down Auburn Ravine Creek!!!! Beware of "nuggets" found is this creek for awhile!
Gordon Gekko is absolutely correct. The city responded within 30 minutes of getting the 911 call and they cleared the problem right away. It is we citizens who need to do a better job of taking care of our creeks and streams. If you smell sewage or see a problem report it. The call the night before did not get the needed response because the 911 number was not used to report the spill. If you see a sewage call 911 right away. It is our responsibility to protect our streams. The city cannot be everywhere all the time. SARSAS understands that and does not blame the city for this spill.
We are concerned about the ongoing discharge violations at the treatment plant but we know the city is moving forward with installation of the ultra-violet treatment which will help a great deal. Ultimately an Auburn connection to the state of the art regional wastewater treatment plant is going to need to happen.
Go to the city of Auburn website and read the rules for properly disposing of household hazardous waste at www.healthyauburnwaters.org
An Auburn Public Works Dept estimate calculated 90 gallons flowed into the creek. PEACE says “do the math”. J Sanchez, founder of the fish and river preservation group, said a member of his organization reported the spill to Placer County environmental health officials Monday evening but no action was taken. SARSAS had received two reports about a terrible stench by then. GordonG says: “We live in a world where mistakes occur on a daily basis”. GordonG: is not responding to reports in a concerted effort fall into the category of occurring “mistakes”? From my High Horse I see that Auburn and perhaps Placer County Environmental Health in a Journal interview has just provided testimony and a confession to the State Water Quality Control of an infraction that should/could result in Penalties, once again to be paid by trusting taxpayers. Auburn is already paying penalties from “just a mistake occurrences”. Identifying the manhole overflow the following day at 11 am is inexcusable. Staff should have followed the stench immediately. That’s a pretty strong clue. B. Schroeder, Auburn Public Works engineering division manager, said the city was called out at about 11 a.m. Tuesday and discovered a manhole overflowing at the back of Pace Auto Sales. The sewage was flowing from the manhole over the bank into the creek at a rate of about 3 gallons a minute, Schroeder said. JonGreen wrote: “Could someone post a picture of a fish in a stream that flows through the city? …
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.............through the city? Please do not send pictures of estuary trout”. This statement either reveals your lack of sensitivity to the environment; or your endorsement of “its ok to pollute the water shed that feeds such items as ‘organic grapes’ used for fine wines”; or lastly, just a recurring/ongoing vendetta against Jack Sanchez.
There is no acceptable reason for this to occur; with today's civil engineering and technology, the idea of making a creek part of the emergency drainage system is poor engineering. There are holding ponds and other means of containment that can be designed into the system. The public works should be fined and made to pay a spillage fee until safeguards are in place to prevent this from happening again.
I'm sorry I asked for some real data instead of a report of a "sighting" "Polluted water running over 30' of gravel stream bed is fit to drink" US Army survival manual.
I haven't "sighted" a fish (except for mosquito fish? in any of the dry creeks marked salman habitat.
PS: The grapes would like it.
No one has yet addressed the salmon eating seal problem in San Francisco Bay.
In response to fisheyes referencing that Placer County environmental health officials were contacted and did nothing. This occured within the City of Auburn limits. Placer County has no jurisdiction. As soon as the city of Auburn was notified, they came out and fixed the problem. Once again, while you might have a vision of human waste running directly into the river, I imagine most of the drainage was water. For one, the sewer system is home to all of the waste water in Auburn, not just toilet water. And secondly, the flow was leaking from a Manhole with a heavy lid which acts as a sediment filter. So there were no "nuggets" in the creek.
Is there a protocol that the City AND County should be notified if there's a spill in the area of ANY of the rivers/ creeks/ streams? I am Native American from the area and there's been so much to damage the fragile ecosystems and fish/plant life already, it cannot sustain much more at the rate we are poluting them. I also worked for a ?? City Utilities Dept. and I know that depending on who you tell, you may or may not get a response or action in a timely manner.