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Wastewater flows into Quinebaug River after Tropical Storm Isaias-related outage, state says

State environmental officials are warning people not to swim in some bodies of water in northeastern Connecticut after a power outage caused by Tropical Storm Isaias triggered a leak of 150,000 gallons of wastewater.

A lack of power caused partially-treated wastewater from the Plainfield Village wastewater treatment facility in Plainfield to flow into Packers Pond and the Mill Brook, a tributary of the Quinebaug River, the state’s environmental agency warned Thursday. The wastewater, which was not disinfected, bypassed the water treatment facility during the outage.

The plant had been back online and operating properly since late Thursday afternoon, but people are advised not to swim or have contact with the water at the Mill Brook, Packers Pond or the Quinebaug River downstream from the Mill Brook until late Saturday afternoon at the earliest, said Will Healey from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.