Sewage put a damper on swimmers’ plans Memorial Day when a fire caused untreated waste to float into the Connecticut River, but all was back to normal Tuesday.
The state Department of Environmental Protection warned people Monday to neither swim nor wade in the Connecticut River between Enfield and Middletown because an electrical fire at an Enfield plant that treats human waste interrupted the process that treats the waste.
The warning was lifted Tuesday. As of Monday morning, the chlorination system was back online and the system was operating as normal Tuesday.
The fire was reported around 10 p.m. Sunday night.
While the incident made for a less than pleasant Memorial Day on the water but caused “a limited threat to water quality” because “no solid particles” were being discharged into the Connecticut River, according to the DEP.
The heavy flow of the Connecticut River, the DEP said, would quickly dilute the discharge from the Enfield plant, DEP officials said Monday.
Boaters and people fishing on the river were in no danger, the DEP said Monday.
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The Enfield plant handles a whole lot of waste. It discharges about 4 million gallons a day of treatment waste water into the Connecticut River, according to the DEP.
