Damaged sewage pipe leaves waste outfall on beach

Damage to the outfall line, a plastic pipe that moves Wrangell’s treated sewage 1,200 feet out to sea, caused a temporary backup in the wastewater treatment plant on Aug. 30. To prevent wastewater overflow at the plant, borough workers dug up and cut the line on the beach.

The short-term solution resulted in treated sewage deposited directly on the beach between City Park and the Mariners’ Memorial at Heritage Harbor. Wrangell’s primary treatment plant removes all solid waste before it is discharged.

The borough on Sept. 3 announced the immediate closure of City Park beach from the southernmost point of the beach to the Heritage Harbor breakwater due to the public health risk. The announcement advised the public to refrain from shellfish harvesting, swimming and other recreational activities in the closed area.

The closure will remain in effect until further notice.

It appears the problem started when a boat anchored near the sewage outfall in front of City Park hauled up its line, catching the pipe and putting a kink in it, stopping the flow, according to a borough announcement late Aug. 30.

The borough has identified a boat they believe is responsible for the damage.

Had the Public Works team not cut the line to restore its flow, wastewater would have overflowed onto Zimovia Highway. The treatment plant would have also lost the bacteria and bugs that eat the sewage in the pond, a key step in the treatment process, Public Works Director Tom Wetor said.

This week, Public Works’ main priority is to extend the pipeline farther out from the beach.

“We were pressed for time and weren’t in a position to search around for the pipe underwater. We had to cut it where we could access it and the beach was the best place for that,” Wetor said.

The department has reached out to the EPA and the other regulatory agencies and will focus on digging up the pipe sections submerged in shallow water to hopefully reattach the line.

After ensuring the sewage outfall is away from the beach, the next step for Public Works will be to determine the extent and exact location of the pipe’s damage in deep water, and what the process for repairs will look like.

Ideally, the damages are at the end of the pipe, and a dive team can simply cut the pipe a little shorter than its current length of 1,200 feet. However, the entire line could need to be reengineered if the damage is closer to shore, Wetor said.

At 120 feet below the surface, the end of the pipe is too deep for any local divers, but a team of divers is scheduled in town in two weeks to inspect the wastewater treatment ponds; Wetor hopes they will be able to also inspect the damaged pipe while they are in town.

He does not have an estimate for the timeline of permanent repairs to the pipe.

The wastewater treatment facility will continue to operate as usual.