WATCH: San Angelo City Council Approves $500K in Emergency Funds to Fix Sewer Main Collapse

SAN ANGELO, TX - The San Angelo city council held an emergency meeting at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday to vote on a no-bid emergency contract and a budget amendment that allocates $500,000 for the repair of a sewer main break near Magdalen and 6th Streets.

Tuesday morning the City of San Angelo sent out an announcement to inform residents of the issue. According to officials they first became aware of the problem Monday morning after they received complaints of manholes overflowing and sewage backup. City crews determined a break in a sewer line that passes under Houston Harte was the issue. The collapse of the sewer main caused sewage to overflow into the Concho River until early Tuesday morning. For more details check out the following story.

During the emergency meeting Allison Strube, Director of Water Utilities explained to the city council that as of this time city crews had been unable to access the actual break in the line. They have been working since Monday to address the issue of the overflow into the river and finding a way to divert the sewage waste away from storm drains by the end of the day.

Besides a strong odor of sewage in the area, city residents are not in any danger regarding the purity of the water in their homes. Those with homes near the river where the sewage overflowed with water wells or river pumps are asked to be cautious. 

WATCH: Emergency City Council Meeting | Sewer Main Break

"Those properties that back up into the river in the half-mile radius or have wells in that area, are recommended to boil water," said Strube. She went on to clarify that the city itself is not under a boiled-water advisory at the moment.
The Oakes St. exit of Houston Harte was closed to allow the work crews better access to the area, but residents are still able to access their homes. There may be an increased noise level as the pumps work to clean up the area.
The resolution allows the City Manager Daniel Valenzuela to allocate no-bid emergency contracts to repair the issue and half a million dollars will be allocated from the Water Reclamation Capital Fund, which currently has about $5 million. It is unknown at this time if it will be necessary to use all those funds for the repair.

There is not a definite timeline of when the issue will be completely fixed as the city crews are working on addressing the issue of overflow at this moment. As the crews are able to access the break directly they will have a better idea of the time it may take to complete the repairs. The City Manager and Director Strube both reaffirmed they will be providing updates on the repair and the status of the sewage system.

“Our hope is that later this evening we will be able to get to the collapsed area, but right now we still don’t know how far of a collapse we have throughout the expressway.”