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Sewage flows into Ross Creek
By Jeff Kearns
A clogged sewer pipe underneath Blossom Hill Road flooded an intersection with sewage Aug. 9, dumping more than 1,000 gallons into Ross Creek.
The blockage clogged a main sewer line under the intersection of Blossom Hill Road and Hillbrook Drive, and sewage started bubbling up through a manhole just after 10 a.m. on Aug. 9. The six-inch line serves about 100 homes in the area of Mary Way and Atwood Court.
Public Works crews fished a mass of gray material out of the pipe and stopped the flow of sewage in about two hours.
"It looked like something fibrous, like rope or something, not what you usually find in a sewer line," said Public Works supervisor Aldo Giordano.
The sewage also started overflowing in the shower of a nearby home, but town crews were able to open a valve before that situation became too messy. "It was a good save," said Parks and Public Works Director Scott Baker. "The crew got there quick and opened the cleanout valve."
The spill was big enough to bring officials from the state Department of Fish and Game and Santa Clara Valley Water District to the scene. The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board and the West Valley Sanitation District were also notified of the spill.
Officials looked for potential damage to the creek, which flows under Blossom Hill Road where the leak occurred and flows east into the Guadalupe River near Almaden Expressway, but weren't sure how the spill would affect the creek.
"It doesn't look like there's damage to the creek or any fish killed, but these things take time to figure out," said Fish and Game warden Mark Insdahl.
"It's not exactly minor, but it's not a threat to fish, either," said SCVWD water-quality specialist Brett Calhoun. Calhoun also said the spill wasn't a threat to the valley's underground water table.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
