February 1998

Sewage Spill Notification and Minimum Cleanup Procedures

Attached is a re-write of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board's sewage spill notification and cleanup response requirements for sewage collection agencies.  Although distributed to collection agencies in the San Francisco Bay area, these spill response guidelines are applicable to most sewer collection agencies.  Note that disinfection (e.g. dry chlorine) is not recommended due to toxicity to fish and wildlife. If using dry chlorine or other disinfectants following a sewage spill, you should contact you local Water Quality Control Board and/or County Health Department for further instructions. 

San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board

Sewage Spill Notification and Minimum Cleanup Procedures

Sewage Spill Notification

-  All sewage spills and overflows exceeding 1,000 gallons require an immediate verbal notification and a written follow up report within five working days to the Regional Board.  Calls should be directed to (510)286-1255 or (510)286-1036 during working hours (working hours are from 8 am to 5 pm).  Calls made after 5pm, weekends and holidays should be made to the State Office of Emergency Services (OES) at (800)852-7550 and (510)286-1036 (voice mail).

-  In case of a fish kill, notify OES and Department of Fish and Game immediately and provide updates as needed.

-  When leaving a message please provide your name, agency, return phone number, City, location of spill/overflow (include cross streets and nearest address), rate of flow, volume, surface water bodies impacted, agencies that have responded if known, cause of spill and the repair and cleanup actions undertaken.

 

The written report shall include:

-  Include all of the above information and the duration of the incident, size of the affected area, and the agency contacts made during the notification, a detailed description of the repair and cleanup actions taken, and a statement on what steps will be taken to minimize or prevent a spill or overflow recurrence.

 

Dry  Weather Posting and Cleanup:

1.   Post sign(s) warning the public of the release with at least the wording of "raw sewage."

2.   Health warning signs should remain posted until County Health or Regional Board authorizes their  removal or sample results show background levels.

3.   Contain and divert the flow to the nearest sanitary sewer or into a Vactor truck.

4.   After the flows have been stopped and repairs made, rake or vacuum up sewage solids.

5.   Flush the affected area with clean water.  The use of disinfectants is not recommended due to their toxicity to fish and wildlife.

6.   Sampling should be conducted upstream and downstream in receiving water if spill volume exceeds 10.000 gallons.  Samples should be analyzed for fecal coliform and ammonia.  Dissolved oxygen testing may also be needed to determine impact.

Wet Weather Cleanup:

-   The same as Dry Weather Posting and Cleanup, steps 5 and 6 may be omitted if storm water flow is high and sample taking is impractical.