A cracked sewer pipe sprayed as much as 5,000 gallons of raw sewage into Long Branch Creek early Thursday evening, prompting calls to avoid the stream in Fairfax and Arlington counties while crews dealt with the fouled ground and water.
The rupture occurred in a temporary above-ground pipe used to reroute sewage while Missouri-based contractor Insituform conducted repairs to the regular sewer line off Route 7, said Fairfax County spokeswoman Merni Fitzgerald.
Officials insist the spill did not constitute a danger to humans, as long as they stayed out of the creek. Earlier estimates putting the spillage at as much as 15,000 gallons of sewage were downgraded to about 5,000 gallons after revelations that the line had only cracked, not broken completely.
Still, crews put down lime and planned to flush the stream with additional water and remove contaminated soil, Fitzgerald said. She said the temporary pipe was shut off, and sewage was sent back through the regular underground line after the accident around 5 p.m. By Friday afternoon, a faint but foul odor was still detectable a short distance away from the accident.
“I am concerned that people have been inconvenienced by what should be a normal maintenance issue,” said Mason District Supervisor Penelope Gross, whose district encompasses the site of the accident. She said it was premature to comment on how the line ruptured.
Insituform was selected in January as one of the contractors for the county’s project to rehabilitate its sewer lines, she said. Fairfax County contains 3,300 miles of sewer piping.
“The county contract is very specific on what the contractor is supposed to do, if he did not perform the way he should have, then the county is going to have to look at that seriously,” Gross said.
Insituform did not return a call for comment Friday.
