Albany Public Works addresses delayed spill response

(ALBANY, GA) – After more than a week, the Albany Public Works Department has announced what caused a spill into the flint river earlier in the month.

“…Especially because of the high of rainfall we’ve had and water coming into the plant; we’ve had a higher than normal amount of solids come into the plant, which discharged into the river,” says Albany’s Superintendent of Public Works’ Sewer Divison, Jeff Hughes, who we put on the spot as to why it took so long for public works to announce the spill.

Hughs tells us, “It began on the second, went through the morning of the third. A sample was taken on the third, and we didn’t even get the results back until Monday.”

While it may taken Public Works a week to make the spill known to the community, Hughes assured me the water quality has been kept stable.

He says, “At our peak flow rate of 55, 56 million gallons. And we had to drop 35 million gallons for a 24 hour period, so it’s a literal drop in the bucket.”

Despite the testing timeline, Public Works says they will try to notify the public sooner should another spill take place.