Metropolitan Council Environmental Services is Responding to a Wastewater Spill in the City of Chanhassen Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES), operator of the metro-area wastewater collection and treatment system, is responding to a wastewater spill from an apparent break in one of its regional force main sanitary sewers that occurred on Thursday, June 20, in the City of Chanhassen.
The spill occurred along the south side of Highway 7 near Arbor Lane and near the north end of Lake Minnewashta. Wastewater flowed along a bike path and through a local storm sewer into a stormwater holding pond north of the lake. Wastewater may have flowed from this pond into a channel that extends north from Lake Minnewashta between approximately Dartmouth Drive and Washta Bay Court.
MCES staff are collecting water samples today (June 21) to see if the spill affected the lake and to what extent. As a precaution, MCES posted signs alerting the public to the wastewater spill and encouraging people to temporarily avoid the posted area at the channel and stormwater pond. Typically wastewater will adequately decompose in the water, and MCES does not anticipate any long-term effects from the wastewater spill.
City of Chanhassen staff alerted MCES to the wastewater spill Thursday evening. MCES transferred wastewater flow to an alternate sewer approximately 10 minutes later, which stopped the spill. MCES is working to determine the volume of the spill. MCES has an emergency contractor repairing the damaged sewer today (June 21).
For more information, please contact Tim O’Donnell, Senior Information Coordinator at MCES, at tim.odonnell@metc.state.mn.us or 651-602-1269.
