Washburn Waste Treatment Plant expected to overflow

WASHBURN, WI. (Northern News Now) - The Waste Treatment Plant in Washburn is expected to overflow Wednesday after an influx in water.

According to the City of Washburn’s Facebook page, the waste treatment plant has been intaking more water than it can hold due to the snow melt.

Officials state on a typical day, the treatment plant takes in about 175,000 to 200,000 gallons.

However, on Saturday, the plant took in 766,000 gallons and Sunday took in 1.09 million gallons.

On Monday, the plant took in 1.6 million gallons, which is beyond the designed emergency capacity of 1.3 million gallons per day.

City officials are expecting the storage basin, which is located near Lake Superior, to overflow sometime Tuesday night.

“Even if everyone stopped using water, the snow melt is just too much,” say officials on their Facebook page.

The DNR has been notified and the city’s staff are taking precautions to limit the amount of spill.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.