Health officials in Michigan are warning people to stay out of the St. Joseph River following a sewage spill in Three Rivers.
On Friday evening, nearly 500,000 gallons of waste sewage water began spilling into the St. Joseph River from the Three Rivers water treatment plant after a break in one of the facility’s pipes.
The leak was discovered Saturday and officials with the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency are urging residents from Three Rivers down to Constantine to avoid contact with the river.
The health agency’s emergency preparedness director Kris Dewey said the main concern is heightened levels of coliform which can cause skin irritation and gastrointestinal difficulties. Dewey also recommended residents who were in contact with the river to wash their clothes and their pets if their animals were around the area.
Taylor Davis, the wastewater plant’s superintendent, said the spillage was stopped Saturday morning, but the pump which broke still needs to be repaired. The hope is that repairs will be finished in the next day or two and the no contact order can be lifted.
"I don't want to sound like I'm brushing it off because I'm not ok with this spill. I have a passion for this job to protect the environment," Davis said.
With the sewage already spilled, there’s not much to do in the way of cleanup besides letting the river’s natural flow dilute the spill, according to Davis and Dewey.
