City Says River Safe

Warning signs are gone from the banks of the Rappahannock this afternoon after city officials say that the worst effects of last weeks large sewage spill have passed.

Their judgement is based on the results of multiple water samples analyzed in the days following the leak.

"These results support the conclusion that the river impact of the wastewater overflow has passed," wrote Doug Fawcett in a press release issued earlier today. "Based on the sampling results, the warning signs have been removed from the City Dock and the City no longer advises avoiding contact with the river."

The samples were taken from five points on the river. There was a control point a little more than 1 mile upstream of the leak and four more locations between Old Mill Park and the City Dock. The tests were conducted every day from November 25 through today.

Fredericksburg officials told the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality that

State regulations say that if more than 1,000 gallons of sewage is spilled into state waterways then an investigation is triggered. Such an investigation is underway now by the VDEQ into the leak.

A malfunctioning sewer pump caused wastewater to overflow into the Rappahannock River in the vicinity of the old Embrey Power Plant.

Soon afterwards, workers discovered the source of the problem: a rare double failure of the two sewer pumps at the intersection of Ford and Caroline streets.

It is not yet known what, specifically, caused both pumps to fail. Once removed, the pumps will be sent off to be analyzed and-if possible-repaired. One of the pumps is believed to be more seriously damaged than the other, leading Fawcett to speculate that its failure may have contributed to a chain reaction resulting in the failure of the second pump.