OH GAWD!!!
1.2 million gallons of under-treated wastewater was flowing into Bud Inlet per hour earlier today, and is still flowing out at about 1 million gallons per hour, according to Mike Strub, Executive Director of LOTT, the wastewater treatment plant on the port property in downtown Olympia.
Strub guessed that about 10-15%, or 100,000 to 150,000 gallons per hour, of that was actual human waste, adding, "that's really impossible to know right now, and is based on normal calculations."
This is not a normal scenario.
"This is the first time in 16 years we've seen anything like this." Strub stated. The treatment plant is designed to handle no more than 30 million gallons of untreated water per day, and the initial deluge was near 79 million gallons, completely overwhelming the system. Letting the water flow into Bud Inlet is the only real option, as the only other scenario forces the under-treated water into downtown Olympia, which would cause a health and comfort disaster.
Strub guessed that about 10-15%, or 100,000 to 150,000 gallons per hour, of that was actual human waste, adding, "that's really impossible to know right now, and is based on normal calculations."
This is not a normal scenario.
"This is the first time in 16 years we've seen anything like this." Strub stated. The treatment plant is designed to handle no more than 30 million gallons of untreated water per day, and the initial deluge was near 79 million gallons, completely overwhelming the system. Letting the water flow into Bud Inlet is the only real option, as the only other scenario forces the under-treated water into downtown Olympia, which would cause a health and comfort disaster.