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Recent heavy rain overwhelmed Kokomo's wastewater treatment plant and caused raw sewage to flow into the creek.
stock photoKOKOMO, Ind. (AP) — Officials say an overflow of sewage was the cause of a fish kill in a central Indiana creek.
Residents noticed an undetermined number of dead fish in Kokomo's Wildcat Creek over the weekend. Indiana Department of Environmental Management spokesman Barry Sneed tells the Kokomo Tribune that heavy rain overwhelmed Kokomo's wastewater treatment plant and caused raw sewage to flow into the creek.
He says the sewage depletes the water's oxygen content but the creek will be safe for fish again once it dissipates. Environmental officials recommend people and pets stay out of any water after sewage releases.
Kokomo is among numerous Indiana cities with older sewer systems in which stormwater and raw sewage flow through the same pipes into treatment plants.
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