Sewage leaks from lift station across Farmington field into Animas River

Riley Industrial worker Jorge Acero, on Monday hooks up a hose to drain a pond off Murray Drive east of the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Farmington. The pond was contaminated with raw sewage. (Alexa Rogals The Daily Times)

FARMINGTON A pumping station malfunctioned Sunday morning in Farmington allowing raw sewage to seep across a field and into a pond connected to the Animas River, which already exceeds state standards for a bacterium associated with human waste.

Public Works Director David Sypher said the sewage, diluted after washing more than 600 feet across the field, reached the river, "and that's why we're pumping out the pond."

Assistant City Manager Bob Campbell said Wednesday afternoon he expected the pond to be pumped dry and refilled with clean water by the end of the day. The field was disinfected on Sunday, he said.

City officials alerted down-stream river users on Sunday, he said.

Officials are uncertain how much waste leaked into the river.

"They are still trying to determine that number," said Jeff Smaka, city water and wastewater administrator.

What officials do know is two of the three pumps at the facility malfunctioned sometime Sunday morning. They are still trying to determine the timeline, Smaka said.

Pump stations are built in valleys and other depressions where gravity can't pull sewage downhill. The lift stations pump the waste up hill, where it can begin flowing down again.

When the first pump in the station off Murray Drive stopped working because of an electrical failure the second pump should have switched on, but it didn't. Smaka doesn't know for certain why, but he thinks scum could have interfered with a float, preventing it from turning on and sounding an alarm.

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Sewage leaks from lift station across Farmington field into Animas River