City of Priest River reports wastewater release into the Pend Oreille | Public Spaces

The city of Priest River is looking into its wastewater treatment plant after an “unknown quantity of sludge” was released into the Pend Oreille River on Wednesday.

According to a news release from the city, the hour-and-a-half-long release was “observed” by a wastewater operator “before it was stopped.”

“The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency have been contacted about this potential violation of the city's federal NPDES permit for the discharge of treated wastewater into the Pend Oreille River,” the news release continued.

Citizens are not at risk from the wastewater release and Priest River is “taking further action to prevent this type of event from reoccurring.”