PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Governor Doug Ducey has declared a State of Emergency in Santa Cruz County in Southern Arizona, due to a leak in a sewage pipeline that transports wastewater from both sides of the border to a treatment plant.
Gov. Ducey tweeted out the declaration on his verified Twitter page Thursday.
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According to the declaration, floodwaters have caused damage to a pipe known as the International Outfall Interceptor (IOI), which carries 10 to 14 million gallons of untreated waste daily from Nogales, Sonora and Nogales, Ariz., to a treatment plant in Rio Rico. The pipe, according to the declaration, is leaking raw sewage into the environment, and contaminates in the water are continuing to flow north and into the Santa Cruz River, towards Tucson.
As a result of the declaration, $200,000 will be made available to the Director of the Arizona Division of Emergency Management.
Despite the declaration, as well as Sen. John McCain's call for quick repair actions to be taken, the Associated Press is reporting that officials with the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) are saying that a leak has not been verified, and the wastewater plant that the pipe leads to is receiving normal flows.
The Associated Press (AP) contributed to this report.