GERMANTOWN, Tenn. — As students return to school Tuesday, Germantown officials confirmed their schools' water is good to go after they faced a week-long water crisis.
Crews flushed hydrants along the main water line connecting each public and private school in the city to make sure schools are receiving clear water, free of diesel fuel that contaminated the city's water supply.
Germantown began the process of flushing its water system after an incident in mid-July that saw hundreds of gallons of diesel spill into the system.
Germantown Mayor Mike Palazzolo told ABC24 a worker was filling a generator tank with diesel fuel so it could keep providing power to the city's water treatment facility, but for some reason, the technician didn't notice the tank had filled up and was spilling dozens of gallons of fuel before cutting off the supply. That worker was put on administrative leave.
He said the diesel drained down a slope, contaminating dirt above the source to a major storage tank.
The unnamed employee was a 'tenured' worker with the city, according to Palazzolo. It will take an investigation to determine if further action will be taken and perhaps explain why the employee failed to do anything when the fuel started spilling.
“Now much of this is still under investigation, but we can tell you a worker was here and was refilling the diesel tank below to keep the generator operating to provide power to the water treatment plant. At some point it overflowed and overflowed by a lot. By at least 100 gallons. It may be more… again, it's under investigation,” said Palazzolo. “The diesel fuel seeped into these massive tanks that hold some 4 million gallons of drinking water."
Palazzolo said the dirt has now been removed and the ground re-sodded.
Palazzolo apologized for what happened and promises steps are being taken so it won't happen again.
