ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Anne Arundel County Department of Health announced Tuesday that a section of Spa Creek has closed due to a sewage spill.
This is not what people living in the Heritage community wanted their community to look like. And the smell is even worse.
"We have had sewage problems before a couple of times, but I did not know that something was leaking down in there," Saundra Phelps, a Heritage community resident, said.
Just this past Friday, on August 25, a sewer line break was reported in the same area. The Annapolis Department of Public Works found a broken pipe was responsible for an active sewer overflow.
Utility workers cleared the blockage that same day by 6:00 p.m. and placed an external pipe to redirect the sewage from the broken pipe.
The sanitary sewer line re-clogged Saturday morning, and the crews reopened the line by noon.
After the pipe was repaired and working that Monday, DPW reviewed daily sewage volume totals from the downstream pumping station and determined that the volume loss was greater than initially estimated and was observed to be in the range of 300,000 gallons.
Today, the Department of Health was re-notified of the adjusted totals.
Officials ordered an emergency closing and warned against direct water contact in Spa Creek in the area above Boxwood Road on the south and Smith Avenue on the north side of the waterway.
The warning is in effect until Saturday, September 2.
Signs have been posted to let the public know about the closing.
“We adjusted to saying we’ll it’s probably going to be like this for a little while, but we’re going to make sure Annapolis, the city of Annapolis, takes care of it," Bruce Aist, a Heritage community resident, said.
Neighbors say the pipes are an eyesore, and they can smell the sewage, which is now flowing through the pipes above ground.
Phelps says she wasn't told anything about what was going on before the work began.
“It would have been good if they had told us ahead of time what was going to happen so we could kind of be prepared,” Phelps said.
Neighbors also aren't sure how long it will be before things are back to normal.
“They worked throughout most of the weekend trying to get it done, so, it doesn’t look like it's necessarily done yet, but they’re working on it,” Aist said.
“I hope they will get it done pretty soon, because my concern is that what if these pipes burst?” Phelps said.
People who come into contact with the affected water are advised to wash well with soap and warm water immediately. Clothing should also be washed.
For more information about the closing, call the Department of Health’s Recreational Water Quality Monitoring Program at 410-222-7241.
