May 19, 2008 250,000 gallons of raw sewage dumped in Cherokee Lake

Power Outage Causes Spill

This was a front-page headline in the Tribune on April 14, 2008.

The "spill" wasn't corn or beans. The spill was untreated sewage---250,000 gallons of raw sewage overflowing into Cherokee Lake from the Morristown wastewater treatment plant.

The sewage overflowed into the lake due to a power outage at the treatment plant caused by a tree that was cut and fell on power lines. The circulating pumps went down as a result of the power outage. When the sewage reached critical mass, it overflowed into the lake.

Just the thought of an overflow and discharge of 250,000 gallons of raw sewage into Cherokee Lake makes you want to, well, puke.

The article by Bob Moore ran on Monday, April 14, 2008. What I found strange was that the article said that power at the wastewater treatment plant was out from 11:10 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. on "Tuesday."

That seems to indicate that this 250,000 gallon "dump" (pun intended) occurred almost a week before it appeared in the newspaper. Did the overflow happen on Tuesday, April 8? Were lake users--particularly those in the vicinity of the treatment plant--informed of the discharge?

Oh, well, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation was not overly concerned. A spokesperson for TDEC was quoted as saying "...we would not expect to see a lingering problem from a one-time event."

Comforting.