Florence Causes Million-Gallon Untreated Wastewater Discharge In Greensboro

More than a million gallons of untreated wastewater was discharged into a Greensboro creek due to heavy rains from Florence, among the largest such incidents in modern memory.

According to the City of Greensboro, roughly 1.3 million gallons of untreated wastewater overflowed into local waters on September 17. The discharge happened over the span of about 23 hours.

When the remnants of Hurricane Florence dropped significant rainfall on the region, rising waters from Middle Reedy Fork Creek flooded the wastewater treatment facility there, shutting down the pumps and paralyzing the facility. That's what ultimately led to the discharge.

Greensboro officials say the area downstream, which is a tributary of the Cape Fear River basin, has been thoroughly tested, with no impact being found.

This is the third such Florence-related incident reported by the city this week.

On Monday, 625,000 gallons of wastewater discharged from a manhole on Battleground Ave. And on Sunday, about 63,000 gallons of untreated wastewater overflowed into North Buffalo Creek.