Sewage flows into Lake Michigan
About 800,000 gallons of partially treated sewage accidentally flowed into Lake Michigan during a computer test in Milwaukee.
The accident occurred at 10:19 a.m. Wednesday in the city's Jones Island Wastewater Treatment Plant during testing of a new computer operating system, officials told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The partially treated sewage poured into the lake until workers were able to stop the flow at 10:53 a.m., Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District spokesman Bill Graffin said.
The discharge violates the district's state operating permit, which allows such discharges only during heavy rainfall or other unusual weather events.
Officials told the Journal Sentinel solids had been filtered from the effluent and it had been disinfected but had bypassed one of the three treatment stages at the plant.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
