Environmental experts are currently monitoring Plum Creek after 100,000 gallons of wastewater leaked from a plant in Kyle, a town 20 minutes south of Austin. Per a City of Kyle press release:
The spill is believed to have occurred between the evening of Sunday, October 31st, and early in the morning of November 1st. The spill occurred from the plant itself as well as from a nearby manhole located close to the plant and is believed to be in excess of 100,000 gallons. The exact amount of the spill continues to be accessed.
Among the organizations investigating the spill are the city of Kyle, Aqua Texas (the plant's operator), Texas Parks and Wildlife, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. As FOX 7 News reports:
The spill is believed to be a result of an equipment malfunction of the Kyle Wastewater Treatment Plants on-site lift station which caused untreated wastewater to backup and overflow from the adjacent manhole cover into an unnamed tributary of Plum Creek. Once the malfunction was corrected, an excessive amount of sewage was pumped from the lift station into the plant, causing a discharge of insufficiently treated wastewater to the same unnamed tributary of Plum Creek.
The cause of the spill has been corrected, so no more wastewater has found its way into the creek. City and state officials, as well as plant operators, are still conducting their investigation.