Broken Arrow Residents Concerned After Raw Sewage Dumped Near Homes

Some residents in a Broken Arrow neighborhood said they’re dealing with raw sewage spills into a creek again. Residents said it’s smelly and harmful for kids and wildlife.

Broken Arrow residents said a lift station has dumped raw sewage into Adams Creek three times in a year.

"Kids play in it, they fish in it, kayak, they have a lot of fun," said Keith Deaver, the Timberbrook neighborhood HOA president.

Keith Deaver said Adams Creek is a staple for their neighborhood, but about a week ago the creek was full of raw sewage and it’s not the first time. Last year he said there was a major sewage spill too.

“The smell was horrendous," said Deaver. "For 5-6 days, the creek was black and horrible. You could not even be outside.”

He said the most recent spill wasn’t as bad, but he wants to see a solution like the addition of a berm.

“There was a blockage in the line that feeds the lift station," said Charles Vokes, the Broken Arrow Utilities Director.

Utilities director Charles Vokes said his crews cleared the blockage and flushed the creek.

He said that the lift station moves two to four million gallons of wastewater a day.

Now, he said the city has solutions. Crews are working on $4 million of improvements to another lift station which will take half the pressure off Adams Creek Northwest.

He said engineers are also studying what they can do to fix the station, like expanding it to keep up with growth, and adding components like a warning system when lines are backed up.

“Our goal is for it to not happen again, but it'll take time and some money to fix it," said Vokes.

Vokes said flushable wipes are a major source of blockage and people need to avoid flushing them. The Adams Creek Northwest lift station study should be complete early next year.