Mattawoman sewer spill

[jhoss]

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Hate to be the messenger on this one….but I went to Mattawoman this morning (5/13) and put in at the kayak launch. I thought it smelled kinda bad, but I chalked it up to the fact that it always kinda smells bad there. Upon returning I noticed the bright orange signs, which either I missed when launching, or they went up after I put in. Anyway, I'm hoping to call the number tomorrow, to find out what other info there is about the situation. Pretty sad thing to have happen to such a great spot. It didn't seem to affect the fishing any, just now I guess i gotta throw out the fish I caught. It certainly doesn't make them too appealing anymore, does it ?

just thought folks would like to know before making the trip down there.

if you have any more info on this please post.

Thanks,

[buzz]

OMG! Not again...

When are they going to learn that a waste water treatment plant has no business being located along a stream fed swamp.


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[bruce19365]

There was a spill on the main river last Wed, that one was good for a reported FIVE MILLON GALLONS. The DC area has a lot of CRAP to dispose of...

[J.A. Veil]

OMG! Not again...

When are they going to learn that a waste water treatment plant has no business being located along a stream fed swamp.


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The main wastewater treatment plant has a permitted discharge to the Potomac. The orange sign appears to refer to an overflow of a combined sewer system (normally sanitary wastewater and stormwater flow in the same pipe to the wastewater treatment plant). But when the volume of stormwater exceeds the capacity of the sewer, some of the untreated wastewater overflows to local water bodies.

It is not a desirable situation but is pretty common around the area.

[wfauby]

Yikes - Heroes On the Water plans to fish there this weekend with the vets...we will need to call the # and get the scoop.

[dtandrade]

Wfauby, I was thinking the same thing. I posted in the HOW thread for saturday to see if anything is changing due to the spill

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[yakersaltlife]

I put a call into them to see what is going on. Does anyone know if there are signs posted down at Mattingly Ave Park? I know its all the same body, just wondered if the spill was up-river more or not. I will let everyone know about the HOW event as soon as we hear and can make a decision.

Thank you jhoss for the information.

[Nitefly]

I didn't see any signs at Mattingly on 05/12, but I didn't look for them either.

John - I still plan on eating the Snakeheads I got on Monday!

[yakersaltlife]

All

Just got word that all is well and the signs should be coming down today. Check what Coop(Not that Coop the other Coop) said in the HOW forum.

[jhoss]

I called this morning and after being on hold for like 20 minutes, they put me through to someone's voicemail box. It would be nice to know:

- Where was the spill ?
- How much was spilled ?
- Are the snakeheads I caught 5/13 safe to eat?

I did look online to see if there was anything posted elsewhere. I found nothing else from this event, but apparently Mattawoman has had MANY past spills. It sounds like there is a sewer line upsteam somewhere that is a primary line to the treatment plant. There were spills in 2005, 2006, 2011, 2012, and now I guess add 2014. An earlier article mentioned the line was one of the few lines that did not have sewage overflow drains on it.
Whatever the case may be this situation isn't new to the location. I'd like to think the collective complaints from all of those that enjoy fishing there could influence those in charge to get their sh*% together! (pun intended)

I get more and more pissed off, the more I read about this.

[buzz]

Permit or no permit, its a really bad place to have a waste water treatment plant.
It is literally steps away from the Mattawoman ecosystem... as you can see in the Google Maps pic below.

mattawoman.jpg

Maybe we just need to find a way to draw more attention to these spills.

[jhoss]

Ok, so I got a call back from charles county dept of utilities and it looks like there is some good news. Here's what they said: There was a "Minimal" spill caused by the recent heavy rains. (he didn't say exactly when this was) They weren't able to determine how much was spilled either. He said they put the signs up as a precautionary measure until they were able to do testing of the water for bacterial levels. The tests came back fine, so they are taking the signs down today. The guy said the fish I caught on tuesday is safe to eat.

I would think the HOW event should be able to proceed without further concern.

Hope this helps.

[yakersaltlife]

John

That same guy called me after he left you a message. To be more specific, he said that a manhole(not the cover, but the actual pipe that connects down to the sewer line) actually came undone due to all the rains and that was what lead to the spillage. He said that with the amount of rains that came to make this happen, they didn't believe there would be any issue, but wanted err on the side of caution, hence the signs. Like you said, they ran the test to determine how much, and he told me it was very minimal.

HOW event will proceed.

Keith

[Mike]

I put in at the 225 launch today. There are still 2 signs up but they're not very visible. One was upstream near the busted kayak launch and one was downstream about 20 yards from the bridge. Whoever went to take the signs down may have just not noticed them. I didn't see them when I launched, only when I returned. Glad to hear all is OK!

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