DEQ: “Shreveport Did Everything Right”

The sewer troubles in Shreveport should be repaired by the end of this weekend. Department of Environmental Quality officials are monitoring the activity to make sure it is being handled appropriately.

Shreveport has been pumping sewerage into the Red River from the Stoner Lift station which failed causing the backup of sewerage into Champion Lake, Bayou Pierre and Anderson Bayou. Residents have been calling about dead fish and fowl odors as a result of this problem.

The city sent KEEL this statement about the amount being pumped into the river:

The current Red River Hydrograph shows over 87,000 cubic feet of water passing by per second, which is approximately 56 billion gallons per day. The amount of sewer being released to the Red River accounts for less than 0.01% of the stream flow. As a result, the fecal coliform count goes from 32,000 at the Stoner Boat Launch down to 1,500 at the Shreveport-Barksdale bridge, and by time it reaches the Jimmy Davis Bridge, it is practically undetectable from background.

KEEL News asked DEQ Northwest Regional Office manager Mark Juneau and environmental scientist Ronnie Kay if the city has followed protocol and the answer is yes. Greg Langley is the first to speak with us about the problem.

The city also sent out a statement on the other waterways impacted:

The backups to smaller bodies of water are being isolated and returned to the system where possible. When this is not possible, we are providing as much aeration to the water bodies as possible, mainly through introducing water from flowing hydrants to the smaller water bodies. This helps with the natural processes in these waterbodies that naturally break down the wastes.  The rains today will also assist to naturally aerate and dilute the waste in the smaller water bodies.  Additionally, for the areas we are running multiple vac-trucks around the clock removing sewer from areas where overflows are occurring and trucking it directly to our waste treatment plant.