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Extended Rainfall Causes Landslide and Pipeline
Failure
Grand
Prairie- Persistent, heavy rainfall and
high-river flows caused a river bank landslide along
a section of the West Fork of the Trinity River in
Grand Prairie, Texas. The river bank, approximately
70 feet wide and 100 feet long, including trees and
vegetation, fell into the river breaking a 100-foot
section of a 60-inch wastewater pipeline which
resulted in an untreated wastewater spill into the
West Fork. The landslide occurred about a quarter
mile west of the point at which Roy Orr
Boulevard crosses the West
Fork.
The Trinity River Authority implemented an emergency
repair immediately upon learning of the pipeline
failure at 10:30 am on Tuesday,
July 24 and activities will continue around the
clock until the repair is completed.
In the
interim, a portion of the wastewater flow in the
pipeline upstream of the break is being diverted to
the City of Fort Worth’s Village
Creek Wastewater System to reduce the volume and
impact of wastewater discharged to the river.
The pipeline that failed is one of a system of pipes
that transport wastewater from portions of the
Cities of Arlington, Bedford, Euless, Fort Worth,
Grand Prairie and Hurst to the Central Regional
Wastewater System’s plant in Grand Prairie.
TRA has
notified the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality (TCEQ) of this discharge to the river. TCEQ
will be apprised of final outflow volume when the
repair is complete.
While
highly undesirable, the impact to water quality is
minimized by dilution with large volumes of flood
water in the West Fork. Outflow
from the pipeline constitutes less than one percent
of the total volume of water in the river at that
location.
Downstream, the water is further diluted by flood
waters being released in the Elm Fork of the Trinity
River. No public water supplies are threatened or
anticipated to be contaminated by this pipeline
overflow.
For more information contact Debbie Bronson at 817-467-4343
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