Sewage from septic tank shuts down Eastern Iowa wastewater pumping station

A wastewater pumping station in Dubuque County has been taken offline because of sewage from a septic tank.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the pumping station at Earlville was taken offline on Wednesday after a black, petroleum-smelling substance was discovered at a wastewater treatment plant. The agency says the substance covered a filter. It could take several days for the filter to recover, allowing the substance to flow into a creek downstream of the plant.

Officials tracked the material it to the pumping station. The DNR says a septic hauler pumped out a septic tank and dumped the sewage into the pumping station, which is illegal.

DNR spokesman Mike Wade says a large amount of sewage can overload a small treatment plant.

The agency is investigating.