City Of Omaha: City & County Monitoring

Omaha NE

02 June, 2022

2:41 PM

Description

Press release from the City of Omaha: May 31, 2022 The City of Omaha Public Works Department is monitoring potential impacts to the City's wastewater collection and treatment system following the Memorial Day three-alarm fire near downtown Omaha. The Public Works Environmental Services Division is responsible for the safe collection and treatment of wastewater and anything that would enter into the wastewater system. Nothing has been observed that would potentially be harmful to human health or the environment. Nox-Crete filed a Notification of Environmental Concern report with the Nebraska Department of the Environment and Energy in regards to a hazardous material spill related to this fire. That document may be obtained through the NDEE. This area is served by a combined sewer system. There were no overflows to the river as a result of the fire and associated flows entering the sewer system. Any material that may have entered into the system is making its way to the City's Missouri River Water Resource Recovery Facility where it will receive full treatment prior to being discharged to the Missouri River. Personnel at the facility are monitoring the flows into the facility for anything out of the ordinary. At this time, no unusual odors or any discoloration of the flows have been observed. This morning, workers detected a visible sheen in the flow which would indicate the presence of oil in the flow. Drinking water is not impacted by this fire. The Metropolitan Utilities District (MUD) provides drinking water for Omaha and the surrounding area. The water is supplied directly from the Missouri River near Florence or from wells located along the Platte River in Sarpy county, the water is then treated to federal drinking water standards. For questions on what types of chemicals were present in the facility, Nox-Crete should be contacted directly. The Douglas County Health Department is not aware of any specific air quality concerns following the fire, but strongly recommends that anyone who was exposed to the smoke and is not feeling well seek medical attention. This press release was produced by the City of Omaha. The views expressed here are the author's own.