Daily Facts and Opinions

Good Friday morning.
Thank goodness the rain has stopped. Hopefully, we'll be able to get back to normal. Whoops...just when I thought so, this story from the Jacksonville (NC) Daily News hit my In-Box:

The tank designed to help prevent overflows in severe rain events has reportedly malfunctioned, city officials said.
The Equalization Tank at Jacksonville's Main Pump Station apparently caused a significant discharge into Chaney Creek, according to a press release from the city. A fish kill has been seen in the area and city staff are currently assessing the situation.
Thursday several manholes in Jacksonville experienced overflows as a result of the heavy rains. A fourth manhole was found to be overflowing Thursday evening. The overflows resulted in unknown amounts of untreated wastewater being discharged into creeks and streams, according to the release.
State officials have been notified about each individual overflow and about actions being taken to minimize the damage from the overflows. Additionally, the city notified independent environmental monitoring groups about the overflow.
Jacksonville installed the Equalization Tank to prevent overflows at the Main Pump Station during peak pumping conditions. Sensors on the tank indicated that more than 1.6 million gallons were in the tank Thursday evening. (So, who designed this thing? Do we get our money back?)
It appears however that the sensors did not correctly read the amount in the tank and a discharge occurred. How much might have been discharged is not known at this time, according to the release.
This is the first time that the Equalization Tank has been used during peak pumping times since its construction. The city has ordered the engineers who designed the tank to report to the scene to help determine what may have occurred. (Perhaps they'll get raises)
City Water Quality crews are currently assessing the situation as well as utility crews. (There's that word, again. How about changing it to "fixing"?

I would say that I'm surprised that this has occured. Actally, I would be surprised if something like this did NOT happen. True, the rains of this week were a bit abnormal, but they're not unheard of. On the coast, in a hurricane belt, where the region had a similar amount of rain just 11 years ago. You might think that up close and personal monitoring during the "rain event" would have been taking place, just to make sure that "sensors", or other devices, were working as designed.