CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Work to fix the broken sewer line that spilled into South Chickamauga Creek is in its last stretch, but in Chattanooga, Tenn., part of the creekside Riverwalk is still off limits while the city checks the water.
District 5 City Councilman Dennis Clark gave the update at this week’s council meeting, telling colleagues that crews are close to done with final repairs and that pollution sampling is still being carried out in the creek.
Clark also said Tennessee American Water has not seen anything in its water quality that would call for extra treatment, a point of reassurance for residents who draw from the river system downstream.
The trouble started on Wednesday, Sept. 30, when the city says the spill began as a small trickle and slowly grew. The city’s Wastewater Department first set up a bypass pumping system to move wastewater away from the damaged section, which cut the flow but did not stop it.
Crews then went into a confined space to reach the broken pipe, with the Chattanooga Fire Department on standby. Two temporary plugs installed on Friday, Oct. 9, finally halted the overflow about a week into the leak, and permanent repairs followed.
City officials say the job has needed specialized equipment because the conditions at the site are difficult to work in.
The greenway closure covered the stretch from the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway Pedestrian Bridge downstream, and access to the Tennessee River was restricted until Wednesday, Oct. 14. Areas upstream of the pedestrian bridge have stayed open throughout.
Officials earlier said there was no immediate risk to aquatic life, but residents were asked to keep out of the creek near the break and below it until officials give the all-clear.
What comes next: sampling results will decide when the closed section of the Riverwalk reopens and when paddling and other recreation can safely return to the lower creek. No firm reopening date has been announced.
