Sewage spews in Indian Hills

State officials responded to an estimated 75,000-gallon sewage spill in Indian Hills on Saturday at Hobo Hot Springs and Plymouth Drive.

Firefighters responded to the leak at 4:45 p.m. after they received a call reporting water spilling over the roadway.

When they arrived, firefighters found the main sewer line was flooding the roadway and pouring into the drainage ditch at Highway 395.

Incident commander Terry Taylor estimated 500 gallons of sewage per minute were gushing out of the line, which didn't appear to be broken. The leak was not fully stopped until after midnight.

"Nothing went into the river," Taylor said. "All of us who worked around the leak decontaminated ourselves at the site."

Taylor said sewage was coming out of electrical conduits and manhole covers. It was transported by truck to treatment ponds.

Douglas County communications director Dick Mirgon said the county rendered mutual aid to the Indian Hills General Improvement District and provided a tent for shade.

"We assisted them by calling the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection," Mirgon said.

County utility specialists consulted with district sewer technicians who helped with the cleanup, Mirgon said.

Nevada Division of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Cindy Petterson confirmed the spill was contained and did not go into any waterways.

"There does not appear to be any human health threat," she said.

The division's role in a sewage spill is to examine the situation and evaluate the environmental and health threat. Nevada's sewer operators are required to report any spill exceeding 45 gallons.