More wastewater was dumped into the Cannon River yesterday. In a press release, Northfield Public Works Director Dave Bennett said that early yesterday morning a wastewater tank overflowed, releasing 5,500 gallons of wastewater into the Cannon River. He added that there aren’t any public health concerns related to the release. Equipment is in place to prevent the overflow. An alarm designed to notify staff of elevated tank levels did not work properly and is scheduled for repair. Staff notified the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency immediately and took water samples. The results show higher levels upstream of the plant than below where the release occurred.
The city is conducting an internal investigation. The Cannon River near the time of the release was flowing at 48,000 gallon every second. Last year, a flood, a fire and a plague of problems persisted with the system. In January of 2018, the plant flooded, in May, the biosolids building caught fire, in early July a pipe break dumped a million gallons of sewage water into the river. The City of Northfield declared a Local State of Emergency to cover costs from the fire that caused millions of dollars in damage and the city has had to haul the sludge elsewhere. So far the estimated costs are over $6 million since January of 2018.
