MONROE, N.C. — The City of Monroe Water Resources Department responded to a sanitary sewer spill after someone stole a manhole cover in Monroe on Thursday.
The city says a customer reported the overflow on Ridgewood Drive around 8:15 a.m. Crew found the heavy cast-iron cover missing and debris blocking the line.
Officials say the vandalism caused about 1,545 gallons of overflow, most of it stormwater from recent rains, to enter the nearby Richardson Creek.
The city says crews have replaced the cover, cleared the blockage and stopped the spill. They also notified the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality per state law.
They say this incident does not pose a public health risk and does not affect the city’s drinking water system.
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