Winslow repairs sewer line after nearly 150,000 gallons spilled into the Kennebec River

WINSLOW (WGME) – Repairs are being made to a sewer line in Winslow after a break late last month sent nearly 150,000 gallons of raw sewage into the Kennebec River.

All of the City of Winslow’s untreated wastewater is pumped across the river to the Waterville Wastewater Treatment Plant.

City leaders say the rupture occurred back on Oct. 22, when pipeline workers were on a barge sitting in just two feet of water.

“The barge accidentally hit one of the pipes. Luckily it didn’t break in half. If it had broken completely, there would have been a lot more downstream,” Winslow City Councilman Dale Macklin said.

Winslow’s construction manager estimates that 150,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Kennebec River before divers could repair the damage 30 hours later.

“I brought in divers and whatever. And they fixed it,” Macklin said.

David Madore, deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, says the response to the rupture was very rapid and repairs were made quickly.

“Unfortunately, there is no feasible ‘remediation’ in terms of recovering the wastewater discharged into the river,” Madore said.

Carol Ogle, whose home is connected to Winslow’s sewer system, said a week later she came home from a trip and discovered sewage in her basement.

“When I came back, I smelled something,” Ogle said. “And then the next day I went down and looked and saw that I had sewage in my basement.”

She still doesn’t know if the two spills are related.

Macklin says they continued to use the broken line because about 90 percent of the wastewater still reached the treatment plant. He also says things would have been far worse if they had allowed sewage to back up into homes and businesses.

“There would have been a lot of backup or a lot of sewage in the river. One thing or another,” Macklin said.

The workers have now completed the installation of the new underwater sewage pipes.

“The new lines are there. Finally. They needed to be replaced years ago,” Macklin said.

“Yes. So far, so good,” Ogle said.

Currently the pipeline is patched and continues to be used. There is no information yet on when the transition to the new pipelines is planned.