Pipeline rupture spills treated wastewater into Carson River
River (Thinkstock)
RENO — An unknown amount of wastewater effluent has spilled into the Carson River in the Lake Tahoe area.
Officials with the Douglas County Sewer Improvement District detected a pipe rupture in Minden on Tuesday and repaired the break on Wednesday, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.
Sewer District General Manager Rob Hopkins says the effluent that spilled into the river had been treated to reduce fecal coliform to next-to-zero levels.
Hopkins says he suspects earthquakes that rattled the region last week may have caused the failure.
Hopkins says the district will report to the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection an estimate of how much effluent spilled into the river in the coming days.
