The City of Boise is notifying our community of a sanitary sewer overflow that occurred on the evening of Saturday, November 1st, impacting Thurman Drain north of Chinden Boulevard and just east of S. Eagle Road. There was a brief power surge at West Boise Water Renewal Facility that impacted communications and operations. This impact led to a backup in the sewer system that caused untreated wastewater to overflow out of the pipes and onto the surface next to Thurman Drain. The overflow was promptly stopped, contained, and cleaned by City of Boise crews. This incident does not impact drinking water or ongoing reliability of residential sewer systems, and the city is not aware of any risks to public health.
“The security of our infrastructure and safety of our community is our highest priority,” said Boise Public Works Director Steve Burgos, “Our team is fully investigating this incident to ensure we have adequate measures in place to prevent this type of overflow from occurring again.”
An overflow of this nature is rare at the City of Boise, being the only one of its kind that has occurred in at least the last two decades. The city is conducting additional investigation and sampling along the drain system, the Boise River and connected water bodies to confirm that there are no public health concerns. The city will alert impacted areas if any risks are found.
