By Marla Dalrymple 
Staff Writer

The Town of Franklin reported two wastewater spills this weekend as a result of the winter weather that affected Macon and surrounding counties.

A sanitary sewer overflow occurred on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 29 and 30, of approximately 400,000 gallons of untreated wastewater from Franklin’s wastewater treatment plant, located at 399 Sierra Drive. According to town staff, heavy snow resulted in a power outage that affected the entire plant, resulting in a spill from the plant’s influent screens that reached the Little Tennessee River.

The incident began at approximately 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29 and was corrected at approximately 7 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 30. The spill was estimated based upon the plant’s average daily flow and the duration of the spill.

Franklin had a second sanitary sewer overflow occurrence on Saturday, Jan. 30, of approximately 50,000 gallons of untreated wastewater from a manhole located at the sewer pumping station near the Hardee’s fast food restaurant on Lakeside Drive. Town staff reported that heavy snow resulted in a power outage at the pump station, resulting in the spill from the manhole reaching the Little Tennessee River.

The incident began at approximately 6 a.m. and was corrected within eight hours. The North Carolina Division of Water Quality was notified of both events on Saturday, Jan. 30, around 10 a.m. and is currently reviewing the matter. DWQ did not return calls to The Macon County News.

State law requires that municipalities, animal operations, industries and others who operate waste handling systems issue news releases when a waste spill of 1,000 gallons or more reaches surface waters. Notices will be published in both Macon and Swain counties regarding these recent spills.