Sewage Spill in Creek between Camelot and Country Walk

[Lisa Benson]

Yesterday  evening  (8/14) there was a major sewer backup in our backyard, which borders the creek between Camelot and Country Walk.  A lot of raw sewage flowed through the yard and into the creek. Many kids cut through our yard and across our bridge between the two neighborhoods. The sewage is all along the path in our yard that leads to the bridge, and of course, the creek itself is pretty badly contaminated. The City of Clemson cleared the blockage and spread lime over the area. But we want to let families know not to walk on the path through our yard for a while until the nasty stuff degrades and/or washes away, and to absolutely stay out of the creek. The creek runs parallel to the Country Walk path, between Earl Anderson park and the Downs, past backyards  - all places where kids play. Eventually it flows into Eighteen Mile Creek and Lake Hartwell, so most fresh water around the area is probably contaminated at this point.

FYI, it looks like the sewer backup was caused by a 4 x 4 that was jammed into the sewer line somewhere upstream. It is possible that the rain washed it into an open sewer hole, but it is more likely that it was vandalism. This has happened before, when kids stuffed building materials into a sewer line behind the elementary school. I don’t think they understand how devastating that kind of prank can be to the environment.

Thanks for passing this along!

 

Lisa Benson

520 Squire Circle

654-2034