An overload of biological material from Sager Creek Vegetable Co. caused an “upset” in the Siloam Springs wastewater treatment plant the week of Sept. 28, which may have killed thousands of fish in Sager Creek.
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality released a report on the incident late Monday night.
“Our investigation has revealed that a power failure at Sager Creek Foods caused them to divert wastewater that would normally be treated at their facility to the city’s wastewater treatment plant via a pipeline,” said Katherine Benenati, department spokeswoman.
As the wastewater hadnt yet been treated by Sager Creek Vegetable Co., it was still very high in organic waste — more than the plant could successfully treat.
Tim Schramm, spokesman for Del Monte Foods, which owns the company, said Tuesday the company is investigating the situation internally and cooperating with authorities.
The agency report says city wastewater superintendent Tom Meyers noticed unusual conditions Sept. 28, which he immediately reported to the agency. Inspectors visited the plant Sept. 29 and 30. They found the “upset” was still occurring Sept. 30 and flow from the plant into Sager Creek was light gray in color and had a foul odor.
Treated wastewater from the plant flows into the creek about 1,300 feet upstream from the Oklahoma line. The creek flows west into Flint Creek and eventually into the Illinois River.
Skyler McElhaney, spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, said all the fish in a 4-mile section of the creek in eastern Delaware County, Okla., were killed the week of Sept. 30. McElhaney couldn’t give an estimate of the number of fish killed, but said, “We believe it was a complete kill.”
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation found 761 dead fish along a 76-yard stretch of Sager Creek, the Arkansas department report states.
The Arkansas report says the city allows Sager Creek Foods to discharge 1.5 million gallons per day into the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
The company’s permit allows for a maximum biological oxygen demand loading of 4,691 pounds per day. Wastewater operators reported to the state wastewater from Sager Creek Vegetable Co. had up to 19,000 pounds per day for several days before the city shut off the company’s discharge.
The report lists four violations of the Arkansas Water and Air Pollution Control Act and state regulations by the wastewater treatment plant: a high of a number of dissolved solids in Sager Creek downstream from the plant; distinctly visible solids in Sager Creek; a visible increase in turbidity in the creek; inadequate treatment of organic matter discharged into the creek causing dissolved oxygen levels to fall below primary and critical limit.
The city sent Sager Creek Vegetable Co. a cease and desist order Oct. 7. The order states the company failed to comply with the discharge limit in its wastewater permit and didn’t notify the treatment plant of problems. The company also failed to take mitigating measures in response to the discharges, the order states.
“The city of Siloam Springs is taking action against Sager Creek Vegetable Company,” Benenati said. “Any potential enforcement action by the department (ADEQ) against the city of Siloam Springs is pending.”