Reports of someone dumping their RV holding tank into a culinary water line brought a swift response Saturday morning. A Swiss couple passing through the area in a motor home apparently thought a concrete box housing a valve on a water line was an RV dump station.
The line is located just west of the old railroad underpass. It was recently installed and includes a shutoff valve used to winterize the sprinkling system at nearby Heritage Park. Access to the valve is through a steel cover on a concrete pad. That’s where the hose from the RV holding tank was allegedly inserted, discharging about 100 gallons of effluent. The valve housing overflowed, but the pressurized waterline itself was not contaminated.
Still, city officials decided to dig out the line and replace everything, including the contaminated dirt. Crews were still working at the site Monday morning.
Price Police Capt. Bill Barnes said there was a language barrier initially because the foreign couple spoke only French and German. Detective Dave Wilkinson, who served an LDS mission in Germany, was called in to translate.
The tourists had relied on the Internet for directions to a dump station but they missed the actual location across the street at the Legacy Inn and RV Park. Barnes noted the spill was not classified as hazardous, but was considered contaminated. He said there was no malicious intent and the foreign couple just made a “big mistake.”
The City will seek reimbursement for repairs, estimated at up to $5,000.
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