Sewage leak goes undetected for 3 weeks

Baltimore County Department of Public Works officials say a sanitary sewer leak was discovered on Tuesday, after it had been broken during Superstorm Sandy. 

 

The overflow had gone undetected for about 3 weeks until residents in the area began to notice a smell. David Fidler with the Department says the 8-inch line near West Branch Herbert Run on the Spring Grove Hospital property was broken during the storm by an uprooted tree. 

 

The sewer runs into the Patapsco River. 

 

Once the break was discovered, crews immediately responded and contained the overflow with a pump-around. 

 

Due to the broken line being in a wooded area of the hospital campus, and going undetected for weeks, an estimated 1.3 million gallons of raw sewage spilled, that's about 60,000 gallons per day. 

 

Fidler also says that crews have no reason to believe that the sewage crossed over Wilkens Avenue and believe it is contained to the Spring Grove Hospital grounds. 

 

The Department of Health will monitor water quality in the run and the area affected by the overflow.