Sewer leak, heavy rain continue pushing sewage into James River (2024)

A week after the state health department advised residents to stay out of lower portions of the James River, it still has not given the OK for rivergoers to return.

The 50-year-old pipe that gave way last week started leaking again Monday, said Irina Calos, a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Repairing it has been difficult, because it is suspended over the river.

The broken pipe did not leak for two weeks straight, the city of Richmond’s Department of Public Utilities clarified late Wednesday. Though the leak began July 2 — two weeks before the state health department issued its advisory — the incidents were two separate and isolated events, the department said.

Plus, heavy rain has caused sewage to overflow into the river. Health experts advised residents stay out of the James from the Manchester Bridge at Ninth Street in downtown Richmond to Osborne Landing in Henrico County. Upstream sections of the river, including Belle Isle and Pony Pasture, were not included in the advisory.

City, state struggled to communicate

Immediately after the July 2 leak, the city of Richmond and the state’s Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, struggled to share complete information.

On July 2, the city learned that the pipe along the Tredegar Pipeline Trail was leaking. The leak was caused by wet weather and produced a relatively low amount of sewage — fewer than 100 gallons during a period of almost six hours, city and state officials said. When the rain stopped a day later, the pipe ceased leaking.

A city employee called a DEQ employee July 2 to inform the agency of the leak, Calos said. The city’s permit with DEQ requires the city to notify the state agency of any discharges into state waters within 24 hours. On July 3, a city employee followed up with an email saying the city was investigating. It is unclear if the state received this email – a spokesperson for the state health department said that because of an error, DEQ did not receive the message until two weeks later.

Calos pointed to the city, saying the state agency did not receive notification from the city that the pipe was leaking sewage – and not storm water – until July 22.

“Thankfully that leak was quite small and would have been unlikely to substantially affect instream E. coli levels,” Calos said. “DEQ continues to collaborate with the city on timely and transparent communications.”

Asked about the apparent lapse in communication, Rhonda Johnson, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Public Utilities, confirmed that the city verbally reported a leak to DEQ on July 2 and follow up with an email the following day.

Two weeks later, on July 15, the pipe began leaking sewage. This time, the DEQ and the Virginia Department of Health learned of the incident, and health officials warned people to stay out of the lower portions of the James River.

“These are two separate incidents and not a continual leak,” Richmond’s Department of Public Utilities said in a statement Wednesday.

The second leak lasted three days and produced more than 1,000 gallons of sewage, the DEQ’s Calos said.

Though city workers initially stopped the outflow, the pipe started leaking again on Monday. Crews installed inflatable plugs and have started welding a temporary patch made of epoxy and steel plates to the underbelly of the pipe. In August, a welder is expected to install a more long-term fix — metal flanges that will isolate both ends of the pipe.

Richmond has an outdated sewer system that releases sewage into the river after substantial rain. On Wednesday night, a map of the city’s combined sewer overflow outfalls showed at least 15 locations had overflowed in the past two days.