EVERETT — City crews planned to work into the evening Thursday repairing a 20-inch iron sewer pipe that broke near the 11800 block of Silver Way, sending hundreds of thousands of gallons of raw sewage into nearby North Creek.
The break occurred around 6 a.m. Thursday. Crews used heavy equipment and sand bags to divert as much of the flow as possible. The city sent a reverse 911 notification to 3,450 people in the area, advising them to avoid contact with water from the stream.
Drinking water was not affected by the spill.
City workers were in contact with multiple organizations and agencies such as the state departments of Ecology and Fish &Wildlife, the Snohomish Health Department, Snohomish County, nearby cities, nearby school districts, Alderwood Water &Sewer District and Tulalip Tribes and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe Fisheries Division.
Crews had been digging into the ground to reach the broken pipe to make the repairs. City workers were coordinating with several agencies to help post signs and take samples. On site were: six tanker trucks (filling them two at a time with sewage and moving to a discharge site), four vactors, a backhoe, a trackhoe, a boom truck and dump trucks.
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