More than 100,000 gallons of untreated wastewater flooded a building and discharged into the Mississippi River after a power outage in Burlington, Iowa.
A statement from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said all of the equipment that processes wastewater at the headworks building failed when power went out at 9:32 a.m. Tuesday, November 6, 2012.
Officials estimate 105,000 gallons of untreated wastewater flooded the building before discharging into the Mississippi River.
It took staff about 15 minutes to restart the equipment and stop the flow of wastewater.
The DNR was monitoring plant workers as they performed cleanup after the spill.