Treatment bypass reported, Aug 24, 2026

Record details

Original source data

{
  "report": {
    "id": "325179",
    "via": "api",
    "incident": "2026-08-24T00:00:00",
    "incident_end": null,
    "received": "2026-08-24T00:00:00",
    "closed": "2026-09-02T10:36:01",
    "modified": "2026-10-01T12:58:18",
    "date_unknown": false,
    "site_name": "UD-Nelson County Service Authority-Nelson County Regional STP-Tye Brook Hwy",
    "address": "3660 Tye Brook Hwy",
    "city": "Piney River",
    "zip": "22964",
    "county_city": "Nelson County",
    "region": "Valley",
    "status_text": "Closed",
    "categories": [
      "Unauthorized Discharge of Pollutant(s)"
    ],
    "waterbody": "Black Creek",
    "other_waterbody": null,
    "original_waterbody": "Black Creek",
    "water_threatened": "Y",
    "low": 1,
    "high": -1,
    "unit": "Gallons",
    "ssors": null,
    "nrc": [],
    "vdem": null,
    "epa": null,
    "facility_name": "Nelson County Regional STP",
    "facility_permitted": "Y",
    "responsible_company": "Nelson County Service Authority",
    "still_occurring": "N"
  },
  "text": {
    "incident_comment": "Initial Notice from [name removed]:\nThis should serve as the 24-hour notice of Plant Upset. On the morning of August 8, 2026 we found that a blower sending air to the SBR basins had blown belts causing no air to be fed into the basins. Upon finding this, we serviced the blower new belts, air filter and oil changed and put back online. In the time all this happened we had a spike in NH3 levels at the plant. We expect a full recovery and normal levels in the coming days. We observed no fish kill and no damage to the aquatic life in the receiving stream\n(Black Creek). \n\n5-Day Letter from [name removed]:\nThis email serves as the 5-day letter regarding the unusual discharge at Nelson County Regional Sewer Treatment Plant (VA0089729) discovered on 8/24/26, the weekend operator observed rising NH3 levels on 8/23, the operator made phone calls, and was advised to check various items including the aeration basin blowers. The operator was unfamiliar with which SBR blower served each area and noted several times that a blower was running. The plant has three blowers: one dedicated to the sludge holding tank and two that alternate supplying air to the SBR basins. Because a blower could be heard running, the operator assumed it was supplying air to the basins. On Monday, 8/24/26, the regular operator and ORIC inspected the plant and found that the belts had failed on the blower assigned to supply air to the SBR basin. As a result, no air was reaching the basin, causing the NH3 spike. The blower was serviced with new belts, a new air filter, and an oil change, then inspected, returned to service, and monitored to\nconfirm proper operation. Over the next few days, we wasted a significant amount from the basins, brought in 2,500 gallons of seed to support one basin, and continued monitoring NH3 levels. MLSS and settleability tests were completed in both basins and numbers are recovering. As of 8/26/26, the levels have returned to normal ranges. Following this incident, all operators who perform weekend rounds at NCRSTP will receive retraining to become more familiar with plant cycles and functions.",
    "location_comment": "3660 Tye Brook Hwy",
    "closure_comment": "VA0089729"
  },
  "sewage": [
    {
      "duration_h": null,
      "component": null,
      "component_id": null,
      "volume_gal": null,
      "volume_unknown": "Y",
      "wet_weather": "N",
      "treated": null,
      "precipitation_in": null,
      "causes": [],
      "impacts": [],
      "corrective_action": "See general tab. All information is there.",
      "steps_taken": null,
      "component_comment": null,
      "other_cause": null
    }
  ],
  "status_log": [
    {
      "at": "2026-08-24T00:00:00",
      "type": "5-Day Letter"
    },
    {
      "at": "2026-09-02T10:30:08",
      "type": "Call Received"
    },
    {
      "at": "2026-09-02T10:33:44",
      "type": "Assigned"
    },
    {
      "at": "2026-09-02T10:33:44",
      "type": "Under Investigation"
    },
    {
      "at": "2026-09-02T10:36:01",
      "type": "Closed Call/IR"
    }
  ],
  "created_in_prep": "2026-09-02T10:30:08",
  "event_type_basis": "treatment-plant discharge not filed as a sanitary sewer overflow (category: Unauthorized Discharge of Pollutant(s))",
  "permit": {
    "typed_permit": "VA0089729",
    "deq_vpdes_links": [
      "VA0089729"
    ],
    "ms4": null,
    "ms4_links": null,
    "basis": "DEQ's VPDES link on the report"
  },
  "discharger_match": {
    "by_permit": null,
    "by_name": null
  },
  "volume_basis": null,
  "_ended_at_basis": null,
  "_time_basis": "PReP API times are local wall-clock times with no zone, read as America/New_York. The export table stores local time + 5 h all year (decoded by subtracting 5 h); the EDMA point layer stores local time labelled as UTC (decoded by reading the UTC clock as local).",
  "water_placement": {
    "text": "Black Creek",
    "towns": [
      "Piney River",
      "Nelson County"
    ],
    "notes": null,
    "echo_outfall": null
  },
  "point": {
    "lat": 37.710743,
    "lon": -78.953611,
    "layer": "DEQ EDMA layer 175 (PReP Reports, Daily)",
    "reference_point": "PG",
    "note": "DEQ's geocode of the report's site address (REFERENCE_POINT 'PG'), not an outfall point",
    "edma_incident": "2026-08-24T00:00:00-04:00",
    "edma_received": "2026-08-24T00:00:00-04:00"
  },
  "attribution": "DEQ is the data source. DEQ does not certify that this data represents a complete record. This data is provided to the citizens of the Commonwealth free of charge and for informational purposes only.",
  "api_url": "https://portal.deq.virginia.gov/prep/api/prepReports/325179?expand=prepStatusCode,prepUnitTypeCode,prepReportSewages.prepComponentTypeCode,prepReportSewages.prepSewageCauses.prepCauseCode,prepReportSewages.prepSewageImpacts.prepImpactTypeCode,prepReportReleaseSubtypes.prepReleaseSubtypeCode,prepReportPermitViews,prepOriginalReport,prepReportEvents.prepEventTypeCode,prepFipsCode.fipsRegion"
}

Source: Virginia DEQ Pollution Response Program (PReP), Valley Regional Office via Virginia DEQ Pollution Response Program (PReP) pollution reports, sewage-related, record 325179, reported Aug 24, 2026, 12:00 AM EDT, retrieved 2026-11-03 02:40 UTC · Read the original notice

Staff names, email addresses and phone numbers are removed from source data before it is stored.