Salem city official: There is no threat from sewage spill
SALEM -- An undetermined amount of sewage spilled into a stream, but it poses no public health threat, an official said.
The spill was caused when equipment failed at a sewage pumping station along Snyder Road, west of its intersection with South Lincoln Avenue, Don Weingart, city utilities superintendent, said Tuesday. The equipment failure, which occurred sometime after 3:30 p.m. Monday, caused the station to overflow, sending sewage into nearby Stone Mill Run, a tributary of the Middle Fork of Little Beaver Creek.
After stopping the overflow, utilities department workers used an absorbent material to soak up grease floating on the water's surface.
The swift flow of the stream will disperse the sewage, Weingart said.
The spill was reported to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Perry Township Police said they received a report near 5 p.m. Monday of a large quantity of dead fish in Stone Mill Run near Snyder Road and South Lincoln Avenue, which is close to the city-township line.
Weingart said he checked the stream and saw no dead fish.