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    Complaint

    9449
    WPC
    12/22/2008
    Email
    Pollution / Spills / Illicit Discharge
    foam
    12/23/2008
    19-JUL-2019 07:05AM

    Location based on SITE_ID

    Site ID
    5007
    Site
    Memphis - Maynard C. Stiles STP
    Location
    373 Stiles Drive
    City
    Memphis
    Description
    Treatment of municipal sewage
    County
    Shelby
    EFO Name
    Memphis
    Site Owner
    City of Memphis

    Investigation Results

    Closed
    12/23/2008
    12/29/2008

    Complaint Description and Writeup

    12/22/08: Received email at 5:10 PM.
    After reading the Memphis Flyer article on the Pollution in the Memphis Wolf River Harbor I took my camera with me on my morning work out.
    The attached photos are from Wed Dec 17, 2008.
    We would have a better city if this could be addressed.
    The foam in the photos is from the Cities N. Waste water treatment plant. It was all the way south to the mouth of the Harbor.
    [Photos embedded.]
    12/23/08: EKB contacted Stiles STP personnel. He also visited the site and saw no foam.
    12/29/08: Received email from Don Hudgins of the Stiles facility that foam was observed late on 12/16 and 12/17/08, but they claim it was coming from upstream. They state their defoaming equipment was working, although it was not working properly on 12/22/08 for a while.
    TRT notified complainant via email as follows:
    Mr. Royer,

    We started checking into this on 12/23 after I received your email that morning from late the day before.

    Our investigation indicates that this may have been a transient episode of foaming. The Stiles plant is utilizing defoaming agents. They state they were in use on 12/17, although they said there was a short outage on 12/22 due to freezing. When our staff observed the area on 12/23 there was no foam. It is possible that whatever caused this episode of foaming was made worse by the flow from the mouth of the Wolf River, but we are not sure of the exact cause. We are glad that this appears to have been a short-lived event. As indicated in a previous email to you, foaming will continue to be addressed in the facility's permit, and we expect the facility to continue to use defoaming procedures. We plan to inspect future foaming episodes if we are notified and are able to dispatch personnel, and we have contacted the facility about keeping us advised if they have a problem.

    Thank you for notifying us.