Route 54 canal

Hundred of gallons of sewage spilled from a Sussex County wastewater lift station near Harpoon Drive on July 4.

FENWICK ISLAND, Del. - Hundred of gallons of sewage spilled from a Sussex County wastewater lift station near Harpoon Drive on July 4 after an equipment malfunction, according to a Delaware Department of Natural Resource's Environmental Release Notification System report.

Tyler Fink of the Sussex County Waste Water facility said the discharge happened when an air release valve failed. The report states that most of the discharge "pooled up around the station with some of the discharge enter(ing) the ground," However, an estimated 500 gallons entered the adjacent canal.

According to the report, employees used a vacuum truck to clean the area and applied lye.

The release was not classified as extremely hazardous, but the report noted that exposure to sewage can increase the risk of waterborne illnesses such as diarrhea for workers handling contaminated materials. 

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Torie joined CoastTV's team in September of 2021. She started at CoastTV as a Photographer/Editor, then went on to report in Milford, Milton and Lewes primarily. Now, she is the Managing Content Editor, helping find stories, assist reporters, write for the website and manage digital entities.

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