Three weeks

after the most recent sewage spill into Lake Peachtree,

officials of the Peachtree City Water and Sewerage

Authority await word from the state's Environmental

Protection Division while looking to improve the response

time in such situations.

About

20,000 gallons were sent into the lake June 3 when a

wastewater pump failed.

EPD

officials came to the site for an inspection right after

the spill, according to WASA general manager Larry

Turner. He expects to hear from the state again in the

next couple of weeks.

Among the

possible responses from the EPD is a consent order, which

Turner says could include a fine and any of a number of

recommendations.

Some

changes are already in the works that would improve the

Authority's ability to respond to spills and other

problems, Turner said.

Installation

is underway on a new SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data

Acquisition) system, which would use a radio signal to

alert staff when there is a problem.

An operator

is already on staff to monitor the system during the

second and third shifts and respond quickly, said Turner.

The current system contacts a security system, which in

turn contacts the on-call WASA staff member who would

handle the problem. The security system would be taken

out of the loop under the SCADA plan, Turner said.

It was

widely reported that a missing cellular phone contributed

to the delay in communication with the WASA employee on

call at the time of the spill. Turner confirmed that all

employees now have their cell phones, and that is no

longer a problem.

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