No-contact advisory canceled for Sinclair Inlet after PSNS review
No-contact advisory canceled for Sinclair Inlet after PSNS review
A seven-day no-contact advisory for Sinclair Inlet was removed after PSNS determined that a reported discharge wasn't a sewage overflow.
A reported discharge in Sinclair Inlet wasn't a sewage overflow, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard said Friday night, but rather consisted of stormwater and treated oily wastewater, and a seven-day no-contact advisor for the waterway was rescinded by the Kitsap Public Health District.
The Health District had announced a sewage spill and a no-contact advisory on Thursday evening.
According to a statement issued by the shipyard's spokesperson Adrienne Burns, on Wednesday morning public works personnel discovered a flooded utility vault that required urgent repair. Personnel believed the vault was flooded with rainwater, and didn't observe any oil or other pollution indicators in the vault before starting their pumping, the shipyard told Kitsap Sun.
"At the first indication there was oil in the vault, pumping was stopped," according to the statement. "Upon entering, public works personnel found broken ship’s Collection, Handling, and Transfer (CHT) piping which indicated there could be domestic wastewater from vessels in the discharge. This CHT piping also carries treated wastewater from the Oily Wastewater Treatment System.