MONROE - Approximately 300 gallons of wash water taken from the Wisconsin Cheese Group factory at 1722 12th St. spilled around 11:30 a.m. Friday because of a faulty seal on a Bytec, Inc. pump truck that was hauling it away.
Bytec truck driver Heather Phillipson said she had just finished emptying the cheese factory's waste water into her straight truck. She drove about 200 to 250 feet, when she noticed water spraying out the back.
"I didn't know what to do, so I just backed up and let the rest of it go back down into their manhole," she said.
"The very bottom of the seal popped out," she said. The back of the truck tank opens to allow for cleaning, she said.
Bytec, Inc. of Monroe is a liquid waste management and recycling company.
Monroe Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Gerald Ellefson and City Engineer Supervisor Al Gerber were standing watch for the milkish-colored water at a storm sewer outfall under Wisconsin 69 at 16th Street. The biggest impact passed by around 12:20 p.m.
At 12:35 p.m., Phillipson and Bytec President Steve Byrne started pumping about 2,000 gallons of contaminated water as it flowed from the outfall.
At 12:45 p.m., another Bytec pump truck was in position and waiting to pump 6,000 gallons from the flow downstream in the 500 block of 11th Street southwest of Precision Drive & Control, Inc.
The main flush of milkish-colored water arrived about 1:10 p.m., and Bytec started pumping. Four mallard ducks flew away to join two others in the sky minutes before pumping began.
The four-inch hose on the pump trucks allows for 250 gallons of water per minute to be pumped out.
Byrne said two more trucks would arrive to pump out as much of the spill as possible. He said 24,000 gallons or more would be pumped out, depending upon the decision of Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Gerald Ellefson whether the spill was adequately contained.
Ellefson said domestic waste water is about 200 milligrams per liter, and the wastewater plant must bring that down to 10 mg per liter before discharging it into the stream. Contamination takes oxygen out of a stream which would kill fish. The spill Friday contained about 75,000 mg per liter, he said.
"If you only knew the number of trucks that go through Monroe every day," Ellefson said. "Accidents happen all the time."
The Monroe Police Department contacted Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to inform them as a matter of policy.
Bytec truck driver Heather Phillipson said she had just finished emptying the cheese factory's waste water into her straight truck. She drove about 200 to 250 feet, when she noticed water spraying out the back.
"I didn't know what to do, so I just backed up and let the rest of it go back down into their manhole," she said.
"The very bottom of the seal popped out," she said. The back of the truck tank opens to allow for cleaning, she said.
Bytec, Inc. of Monroe is a liquid waste management and recycling company.
Monroe Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Gerald Ellefson and City Engineer Supervisor Al Gerber were standing watch for the milkish-colored water at a storm sewer outfall under Wisconsin 69 at 16th Street. The biggest impact passed by around 12:20 p.m.
At 12:35 p.m., Phillipson and Bytec President Steve Byrne started pumping about 2,000 gallons of contaminated water as it flowed from the outfall.
At 12:45 p.m., another Bytec pump truck was in position and waiting to pump 6,000 gallons from the flow downstream in the 500 block of 11th Street southwest of Precision Drive & Control, Inc.
The main flush of milkish-colored water arrived about 1:10 p.m., and Bytec started pumping. Four mallard ducks flew away to join two others in the sky minutes before pumping began.
The four-inch hose on the pump trucks allows for 250 gallons of water per minute to be pumped out.
Byrne said two more trucks would arrive to pump out as much of the spill as possible. He said 24,000 gallons or more would be pumped out, depending upon the decision of Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Gerald Ellefson whether the spill was adequately contained.
Ellefson said domestic waste water is about 200 milligrams per liter, and the wastewater plant must bring that down to 10 mg per liter before discharging it into the stream. Contamination takes oxygen out of a stream which would kill fish. The spill Friday contained about 75,000 mg per liter, he said.
"If you only knew the number of trucks that go through Monroe every day," Ellefson said. "Accidents happen all the time."
The Monroe Police Department contacted Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to inform them as a matter of policy.