BURLINGTON – Following a brief power outage Saturday night, the city of Burlington discharged partially treated wastewater to the Mississippi River.
When a breaker tripped at 10:14 p.m., the power loss shut off all pumps causing partially treated wastewater to fill and overflow from processing tanks at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. The city reports 27,000 gallons discharged to the river before pumping resumed.
The city is troubleshooting to determine why the breaker tripped and options to prevent future power outages.
The same breaker tripped on Aug. 8, causing a wastewater discharge of 22,000 gallons.
The DNR is monitoring the situation.