After a PG&E rolling blackout caused by the heatwave cut power to the East Bay Municipal Utility District's wastewater treatment plant, 50,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Oakland-Alameda Estuary Friday night.
East Bay MUD Senior Public Information Representative Andrea Pook said that when the utility plans to turn off the electricity, it normally notifies East Bay MUD in advance. However, this outage came as a surprise.
“The power outage affected major equipment at the plant,” Pook told KCBS Radio. “What that resulted in was that sewage had started to back up behind the plant before it was able to be treated.”
Because of the malfunction, 50,000 gallons of sewage water made its way to the estuary.
People are advised to stay clear of the water.
No swimming/boating in Oakland Estuary. An unannounced power outage affected equipment for wastewater treatment and 50,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled into the estuary. EBMUD is taking water samples and will alert the public when water quality is safe. https://t.co/KDmUugwfAq pic.twitter.com/Kxe58aEpc7
— EBMUD (@ebmud) August 15, 2020“It’s very important that people stay away from body contact with that water,” said Pook. “So, that means we’re asking that people don’t swim or kayak or boat in the Oakland-Alameda Estuary until we get results back that give us the all clear. I'm not sure exactly how long that will take. It may be a couple of days.”
She said that signs have been posted all along the shoreline.
“It’s a hot day,” Polk added. “It’s a hot weekend, so we want to make sure people avoid that area.”
