THOMASVILLE – After having the largest wastewater spill on record with the North Carolina Division of Water Quality, the city of Thomasville has released a list of actions it will take to reduce the risk of future spills.

On Friday, the city announced it has hired Pease and Associates Consulting Engineers to analyze the city’s sewer collection system and prioritize the immediate, short-term and long-term rehabilitation needs. Second, the city has hired Brown and Caldwell, an environmental consulting firm, to review city records and other data to investigate the causes, duration and size of the spill and any environmental impact, including any impact to High Rock Lake and its tributaries.

“We are hiring an independent environmental firm to take a look at it,” said Morgan Huffman, the city’s public services director. “We want them to come up with their own conclusion – a third party that is neutral.”

The city also has hired the law firm of Brooks Pierce to conduct an investigation of the handling of the spill.

The untreated wastewater spill of 15.93 million gallons, which began July 13 and ended Aug. 4, came from the North Hamby Creek Outfall Line near Baptist Children’s Home Road, and sewage spilled into the North Hamby Creek in the Yadkin/Pee Dee River Basin, which flows into High Rock Lake. City officials have said the spill happened as a result of a collapsed manhole, possibly during or after a rainstorm on July 13.

Yadkin Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks said the U.S. Environmental Projection Agency conducted a criminal investigation based on a report he received on Aug. 28. The riverkeeper said he received a tip from an employee at the Thomasville Wastewater Treatment Plant who claimed plant officials intentionally underreported the spill totals to the media.

City Manager Kelly Craver said the EPA made Thomasville employees recalculate an amount of 385,000 gallons of raw sewage that was initially reported by the city Aug. 4 to the Division of Water Quality. This week, the city was fined $35,116 for the 15.93 million gallon wastewater spill.

Dean Lambeth, the city of Thomasville’s maintenance and construction superintendent, resigned Sept. 21 after Craver gave him the “opportunity to resign,” Craver said. After receiving two phone calls about a potential spill July 31, Lambeth had “reasonable enough knowledge” then to investigate the spill instead of waiting until Aug. 3, the city manager said.

Because of the spill, Thomasville officials have implemented interim procedures for suspected spills that makes all city employees part of the city’s spill detection efforts. An employee who knows of or suspects that a spill may be occurring must communicate the information to supervisors and managers in the chain of command, including the city manager, according to a city of Thomasville press release.

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