Sewage spill near Lake Whatcom could cause a health hazard for some water users
Sewage leaked into ditches along Lake Louise Road and into Beaver Creek, a tributary of Lake Whatcom near Sudden Valley, prompting a health alert Thursday for those who drink water directly from the lake.
Justin Clary, general manager of the Lake Whatcom Water and Sewer District, said the leak happened about 7:45 a.m. Thursday and lasted about an hour.
Exactly how much sewage spilled wasn’t immediately known, Clary told The Bellingham Herald.
Water utility officials notified the Whatcom County Department of Health and Community Services and issued a statement warning of potential health risks.
“Residents who draw their drinking water directly from Lake Whatcom [should] bring their water to a rolling boil for at least one minute before consuming. For those households with a disinfection treatment system, it is recommended that the treatment system be inspected to ensure it is working properly,” the statement said.
That alert does not affect drinking water that goes to households who are customers of the Lake Whatcom Water and Sewer District or the city of Bellingham.
Only about 250 households take water directly from Lake Whatcom, which is the drinking water source for about 100,000 Whatcom County residents, according to the Lake Whatcom Management Program operated jointly by Whatcom County and the city of Bellingham.
Lake Whatcom Water and Sewer District serves 11,000 customers in the communities of Geneva and Sudden Valley, and along the lake’s north shore.
Total amount of sewage spilled will be included in a report to the state Department of Ecology, Clary said.
“The overflow only occurred when the lift station was actively pumping. So we will be able to look at our facility data to determine how many times the pumps operated during that period to estimate the volume pumped through the pipeline,” he said in an email.
