Nearly 200,000 gallons of wastewater spilled into a Haltom City creek Saturday afternoon, likely due to tree that fell during storms that moved across North Texas, the city says.
The unauthorized discharge, which totaled 187,000 gallons of wastewater from a "domestic sanitary sewer," happened around 1 p.m. Saturday at the Thomas Road Bridge over Little Fossil Creek, according to the city. The location is north of State Highway 121 and west of Carson Street.
Because the amount of wastewater exceeded 50,000 gallons, the city said it was required by law to notify government officials and the public.
Haltom City officials said many trees upstream of Thomas Road fell into the creek, and that one of them damaged about 45 feet of sanitary sewer.
The discharge was stopped at about 5 p.m. Monday, the city said.
Haltom City officials issued a notice required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality after such a spill.
People who use private drinking water wells within half a mile of the location should boil water before using it and residents who use public water could contact their distributor to determine if it was safe to use, the city said.
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The public should avoid contact with waste material, soil and water near the spill, and they anyone does come in contact with any of the substances, they should bathe thoroughly as quickly as possible.
