(Jan. 8, 2018: 9:20 a.m.) Construction crews working on the "catastrophic" sewer-line failure that has since Thursday night has dumped nearly three million gallons of raw sewage into Nantucket Harbor were able to successfully bypass the failed area Sunday night and connect to functioning sewer lines, town officials said Monday morning.
"The crews continued to test this connection and monitored it throughout the evening to ensure its durability. The crew needs to solve one more connection to the Sea Street Pump Station before making the final cutover," according to the town's latest press release.
"Per the request of the Department of Environmental Protection, the temporary discharge and collection system that the sewer department engineered behind the Nantucket Yacht Club will remain functional as a precaution."
The sewer-line rupture, which occurred Thursday night along South Beach Street, forced the town to shut down its Sea Street pumping station, which sends municipal sewage to the Surfside wastewater treatment plant.
According to the town's most recent press release, "once this bypass connection is fully operational town staff and off-island engineers can begin the process of inspecting the damage to the sewer lines as well as the structural condition of South Beach Street from Easton Street to Broad Street. Clean-up plans are being made and we expect to schedule a meeting this week with affected businesses and residents to inform them of the plans."
Town officials brought in a construction crew from its sewer contractor Robert B. Our via National Guard helicopter at 11:15 a.m. Friday to begin excavating the area around the pumping station to determine the cause of the breach and reroute the sewage to another sewer main. Crews will be working continuously on the ruptured 20-inch force main that runs along South Beach Street between Broad and Easton streets until the repairs are completed, town officials said.
According to the town's Saturday briefing on the sewer-main break, "overnight construction crews worked until 11 p.m. Friday excavating the area of the breach along Sea Street with significant progress made. Back on site this morning at 6 a.m.," the crew continues their work in the bitter cold to contain and repair the sewer force main on South Beach Street. Discharge of untreated sewage continues to flow into the harbor, however early this morning the sewer department and the state Department of Environmental Protection devised a plan to control and filter the discharge to one location until the necessary repair equipment can arrive on the island, hopefully later today."
"The town and DEP are devising a written post-containment clean-up plan that is hampered by current weather conditions. This plan will include clean-up of the streets and outflow areas as well as other affected areas. Beach inspection and spot clean-ups and water testing is part of this plan. Street and parking restrictions remain in place around downtown until further notice and the town continues to request that the public refrain from visiting the site of the sewer break to allow construction crews to work unimpeded and avoid spreading the sewage material outside of the area."
The municipal sewer system itself continues to function, but until the bypass is fully operational, sewage can not be pumped from the Sea Street station to the wastewater treatment plant, necessitating its release into the harbor first at the Easy Street Basin, and as of Saturday night, to an outflow pipe near the Nantucket Yacht Club, where a screening mechanism is preventing debris from entering the harbor, town officials said.
"The discharge into the harbor is something nobody wants to see, but if we weren't doing it sewage would be backing up into hundreds of homes around the island," town manager Libby Gibson said.
Health officials are not overly concerned about contamination from the break, however, because the bacteria in the sewage can not survive the frigidly-cold temperatures that descended on the island Thursday night, health director Roberto Santamaria said.
Residents can continue to use their sinks, toilets and showers without fear of backups, sewer director David Gray said. Town officials are asking the public to limit their water use as much as possible, however, to reduce the volume of activity and discharge into the harbor. Several nearby restaurants Lola 41, Stubby's, Walter's and Island Coffee – have been ordered by the town's health department to close pending inspections.
The sewer main serves about 4,000 homes and businesses, about 80 percent of the island on municipal sewer. Many, however, are occupied by seasonal residents and not in use this time of year. About 750,000 gallons of sewage a day travels through the ruptured pipe at this time of year, Santamaria said.
State and federal environmental officials have been notified of the failure, and "understand our situation," Gibson said.
"The town remains in communication with state departments on regular update calls. The Massachusetts Department of Emergency Management, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Public Health and the Division of Marine Fisheries are committed to supporting the town to best manage this situation with resources and expedited services. The town has requested emergency procurement waivers from the Department of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance to ensure the most rapid and effective response for resources," town officials wrote in press release Friday afternoon.
South Beach and other surrounding streets have been closed and are being blocked by concrete barricades. The sewer-main break has undermined the street, which could collapse if a vehicle were to travel over it, damaging or compromising water lines and the electric utilities that run from the undersea cables serving the island to the downtown transfer station, police chief Bill Pittman said.
Residents are asked to stay away from the areas to avoid further compromising the street, and for public-health reasons.
"The biggest thing we ask is that if anyone decides to walk downtown, to avoid the puddles. At this point we don't know what is stormwater and what is sewage," Santamaria said.
Cleanup, in conjunction with the state Department of Public Health, Department of Environmental Protection and Division of Marine Fisheries will begin as soon "as we have a handle on the failure," Gibson said.
Nantucket Harbor will be closed to shellfishing until the repairs are completed and the town, Division of Marine Fisheries and Department of Public Health can evaluate the affected areas.
Santamaria and town natural resources director Jeff Carlson will regularly test the harbor to determine the impact of the sewage release.
Work crews placed a containment boom in the Easy Street Basin around 3:30 p.m. Friday after a "small amount" of oil was observed coming from one of the discharge pipes. Booms, however, are unable to contain sewage spills, harbormaster Sheila Lucey said.
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said in a statement the main ruptured in three or four places. Gray said he won't know what caused the sewer-main failure, which was reported at 8:14 p.m. Thursday, or exactly where it failed, until it can be dug up and examined.
"At this point, we're not sure, but I think it's safe to attribute it to the storm Thursday and freezing temperatures," he said.
Getting work crews to the island was complicated by high winds and the recent cold snap, which has prevented all boat transportation to and from the island since 6 a.m. Thursday, and necessitated the helicopter airlift.
Equipment arrived on the island at around 1 p.m., on the first Steamship Authority boat to travel to the island since Wednesday night.
Because of the street closures, Washington and South Water streets from Legion Hall to the Nantucket Whaling Museum will be open to two-way traffic to provide access into and out of town, police Lt. Angus MacVicar said.
The following streets will remain closed to pedestrian and vehicle traffic until further notice: Easy Street, Cambridge Street, Oak Street, South Beach Street, South Beach Street Extension, Still Dock, Whalers Lane and Sea Street. South Beach Street is blocked at Easton Street. Harbor View Way remains open with access via Easton Street but exiting traffic to Easton Street only. Access to the Steamship Authority is limited until it resumes service.
Check back to www.ack.net for updates as they become available.
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