BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Officials with City of Bellingham announced last night, November 28th, that the Post Point wastewater treatment plant had discharged 9 million gallons of sewage into Bellingham Bay.
The treatment plant and major pump stations had been running at full capacity through the day according to the announcement. “Flows exceeding pumping capacity in downtown resulted in automatic overflow at the C Street overflow for approximately 7.5 hours, resulting in nine million gallons of sewage discharging to Bellingham Bay.City of Bellingham (November 28, 2021)
The overflow structure at C Street is activated to discharge wastewater directly to Bellingham Bay to prevent overwhelming the pumping systems and treatment plant.
The announcement also said “The impacts to water quality as the result of the need for sewage overflow are expected to be minimal.”
The C Street overflow was also activated during the mid-November heavy rains and flooding event according to the City’s website, noting “The C Street overflow was last operated in 2009.”