A lift station associated with a water treatment facility on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Rosebud, SD, failed late on April 13, 2017, due to a pump failure. This failure has resulted in approximately 67,500 gallons/day of untreated wastewater being discharged to Rosebud Creek. Local representatives have initiated repairs. These repairs are expected to take at least 3-4 weeks.
EPA Region 8’s Response Unit is deploying to the incident with a temporary solution to bring the facility back on line. This solution involves bringing in an external pump and backup system to route the untreated wastewater around the lift station and up to the treatment plant. Specialized equipment is being ordered to account for the unusually high head pressure (275’) that will be required to pump the wastewater from the lift station to the treatment facility. The response team expects to arrive on site with the required equipment on April 20, 2017.
Local representatives have notified nearby residents and, EPA has notified the State of South Dakota. Neither EPA nor the State have identified any downstream drinking water intakes that could be impacted by this incident. As a precaution, the State has initiated downstream sampling activities.
