FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                          March 2, 2010

                           ROOTS CAUSE OVERFLOW IN WAHIAWA

(Tuesday, March 2, 2010) – Crews from the city's Department of Environmental Services responded to sanitary sewer overflow (SSO), also known as a sewage spill, this evening in Wahiawa.

         The call came in at 4:35 p.m.  ENV arrived at 6:20 p.m. and secured the site at 7:30 p.m.

         Tree roots clogged a 6-inch siphon pipe causing a manhole fronting 77 Karsten Drive in Wahiawa to overflow and send 3,400 gallons of raw wastewater into a dry ravine.  There is no public access to the area, and the SSO should not reach the Wahiawa Reservoir.

         ENV notified the state Department of Health.  The affected area was cleaned and disinfected.  Crews will be dispatched to the site at first light in the morning to determine if signing and sampling are warranted.                

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Contact:  Markus Owens, ENV Public Communications Officer, 351-6305