News Release 001

Department of Natural Resources investigating damage from Liberty sewer release

For more information: 573-751-1010
Volume 41-001  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 11, 2013

Jefferson City, Mo. - The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is investigating the possible environmental damage caused by the release of an undetermined amount of wastewater into a tributary of Little Shoal Creek in Liberty.

The department’s Kansas City Regional Office received a call Thursday afternoon from Liberty city officials reporting that a clay wastewater collection pipe that passes through the creek had ruptured, allowing the wastewater to flow into the creek. The release was located in the 400 block of South Circle Drive near the Westboro-Canterbury Greenway, approximately 2 miles from Little Shoal Creek.

The Kansas City Regional Office responded to the scene Thursday evening to take water samples to determine the possible environmental damage to the creek. They returned this morning to meet with city officials and follow up on the initial investigation.

City officials have stopped the flow into the creek by pumping the sewage out of a manhole on one side of the creek into another manhole on the opposite side. Repairs of the break began this morning.
The department recommends residents and visitors to the park and greenway should avoid direct contact with the stream at this time.

The department considers discharges of wastewater from sanitary sewer collection systems to be threats to public health and the environment. Such discharges can contaminate lakes and streams, causing serious water quality problems.

Any enforcement action to be taken by the department in relation to the release will be determined by the results of the investigation.

To report an environmental emergency, including sewage overflows, please contact the department’s spill line at 573-634-2436. For more information contact the department at 800-361-4827 or 573-751-3443, or visit the department's Web page at dnr.mo.gov.

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