Hopewell officials report 1.2 million-gallon overflow after power short, urge improved emergency notification

City staff reported to the Hopewell City Council that the Hopewell Water Renewal (HWR) plant experienced a significant overflow after a short in a primary power feed to the domestic headworks late on July 11. Mike Crocker, director of public works and interim director of Hopewell Water Renewal, said the overflow began at about 11:15 p.m. on July 11 and ceased at about 3:30 p.m. on July 12 when temporary power and bypass pumping were established.

Crocker estimated the volume of the overflow at about 1,198,000 gallons and described the cause as a complete loss of power to the headworks for roughly 16 1/2 hours caused by a shorted primary cable. He showed council images and video of damaged feed wires and said electrical inspection found conduit burrs and hardened PVC glue that likely damaged the cable during installation years earlier.

The city rented equipment and hired contractors to respond: portable generators (~$21,000), emergency backup pumps (~$87,000), electrical subcontractor work (~$49,000) and crane rental (~$10,000), for preliminary response costs of about $167,000, Crocker said. He added that some invoices are still pending and the totals are estimates.

Crocker said staff reported the incident to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) as required by the city’s permit and submitted a five-day follow-up letter. He said DEQ will determine any further action at its discretion. The city coordinated communications with the health department; council was told the Virginia Department of Health’s advisory was later lifted.

Councilors pressed staff on several points. Councilor Holloway and others asked why the city had to rent portable generators rather than use an in-house unit. Crocker and operations staff said HWR does not maintain a portable generator sized for this headworks application and that the wiring between the emergency generator and the domestic screens was compromised, so the on-site generator could not have driven the headworks until the wiring was repaired. They said selecting a permanent generator would require an assessment of multiple applications (plant processes and pump stations), sizing, training and budgeting.

Several councilors criticized the timing and channels of notification. Councilor Holloway said he and other councilors first learned of the spill from newspaper reports and called the lack of earlier direct council notification “unacceptable.” Staff described the notification sequence used: internal escalation at the plant, use of DEQ’s hotline (which in turn notifies health and emergency officials), and coordination by staff and public information officers on a press release. The city manager’s office is working with staff to develop a crisis-communication policy and a clearer notification protocol for council, staff said.

On public-health concerns, Crocker said the Virginia Department of Health lifted its recreation advisory after testing and review; he told the council that given river volume, rainfall and preexisting bacteria in the river, the department determined the river was safe to resume recreational use. Crocker added that while plant operators responded quickly to close and repair the outage, HWR does need capital investment and sustained maintenance: “Plants are always breaking,” he said, and fixing longstanding infrastructure issues will take time and funding.

Next steps: staff said they will continue coordination with DEQ and the health department, complete final invoices and present a follow-up report on communication improvements and a planning approach for emergency power and plant capital needs.