On Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at approximately 8:00 a.m., the Talbot County Sanitary District (Sanitary District) was contacted regarding a suspected discharge of sewage to the drainage ditch located along the western side of Maryland Route 33, approximately 800 feet south of the intersection of Blueberry Acres.
Personnel from the Sanitary District arrived on site at 8:30 a.m. and confirmed the discharge of approximately 35,000 gallons of raw sewage into a one-half (.5) mile section of the drainage ditch. Sanitary District staff immediately contacted Bryan and Sons to assist with the clean-up of the discharge. Three sewage pump trucks were dispatched to recover the discharge from the drainage ditch.
Bryan and Sons initiated repairs to the force main at approximately 9:30 a.m., with tanker trucks positioned at the Royal Oak Pump Station at Maryland Routes 33 and 329. As flow entered the Royal Oak Pump Station, a tanker truck vacuumed up the raw sewage in the wet well, and once the tanker truck was full, the truck hauled the wastewater to the Region II (St. Michaels) Wastewater Treatment Plant. Another tanker truck was positioned to vacuum wastewater entering the wet well on a continual basis until the repair to the suspected broken line was repaired.
The Sanitary District determined that the cause of the discharge was due to a pipe separation/crack near a valve vault installed in the force main that extends from the Royal Oak Pump Station to Madison Avenue in St. Michaels.
Bryan and Sons repaired the force main at approximately 4:00 p.m. on May 18, 2021; backfilling operations occurred thereafter. Talbot County Sanitary District worked with Bryan and Sons to lime the ditch to kill any pathogens present in the wastewater that entered the drainage ditch.
The sewage discharge was reported to the Maryland Department of the Environment and to the Talbot County Health Department’s Office of Environmental Health. Staff from the Office of Environmental Health assisted with the investigation of the discharge and determined that sewage did not reach navigable or shellfish harvesting waters of the Miles River. Based on this determination, no imminent threat to public health or the environment was found in association with the discharge.
If the public has any questions regarding the public health determination they may contact Anne Morse, Director of Environmental Health at 410-770-6880 Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or after hours by contacting the Talbot County Operations Center at 410-822-0095. The Operations Center will contact the Environmental Health Specialist on call. If the public has questions regarding the discharge or the corrective action that was taken they may contact Ray Clarke, County Engineer, at 410-770-8170.
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