Photo: City of Eddyville/Facebook
The City of Eddyville is reporting its sewer treatment plant had a “catastrophic failure” to its Sequential Batch Reactor Tank Monday afternoon.
According to information provided by officials, around 400,000 gallons of partially treated sewage were initially released from the tank. Officials stated that emergency response agencies, along with the Kentucky Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort, were immediately notified and dispatched.
Officials reported that about 800,000 gallons of partially treated sewage had leaked before the situation could be brought under control.
The Kentucky Environmental Protection Agency-Division of Water Waste Management reportedly notified all water treatment plants located both downstream and upstream on Lake Barkley. Officials noted those entities are the City of Kuttawa, the Kentucky State Penitentiary, Lake Barkley Water, the City of Princeton Water, and the Crittenden/Livingston Water District.
Emergency response agencies are on-site and actively working to treat all sewage entering the sewer plant. Officials stated that the City of Eddyville is collaborating with these agencies to finalize a short-term solution on Tuesday, and they also mentioned that meetings are being arranged to discuss plans for a long-term solution.
Eddyville officials have stated that there is currently no reason for concern regarding the drinking water in Lyon County or the surrounding counties.
Lyon County officials released information clarifying that the City of Eddyville, the City of Princeton, Lake Barkley Water and the Kentucky State Penitentiary are all upstream from this incident location, while the City of Kuttawa is downstream from this location and the Crittenden/Livingston Water District is approximately 14. 5 miles downstream from the incident location.
Officials said the City of Kuttawa and the Crittenden/Livingston Water District are both taking precautions to make sure their water is safe.
County officials also explained that the Lyon County Water District gets its water from the City of Eddyville, the City of Kuttawa, and the City of Princeton. Currently, they are getting their water from the City of Eddyville and the City of Princeton, with both of these plants upstream from the incident location.
Multiple state and local agencies are assisting the City of Eddyville with this issue.
If you have any questions, you can email Eddyville Mayor Greg Greene or Lyon County Judge-Executive Jaime Smith-Public Information Officer under Emergency Management at Greg.greene@eddyvilleky.org or lyoncountyjudge@gmail.com.
(**Updated @ 11:15pm to include information released by Lyon County officials.)
