Keep flushing: Fire won't slow intake at Cedar Rapids wastewater plant

Keep flushing.

The early morning fire at the city's Water Pollution Control facility has not disrupted the plant's ability to take in solid waste from homeowners, businesses or industries, Steve Hershner, the city's utilities environmental manager, reported early Friday afternoon.

He said he would have a report update by late afternoon.

Hershner said the Friday morning fire hit the plant's "solid dewatering operations," which is part of the wastewater treatment process that removes liquid from the process, creating sludge. The sludge then is burned in the plant's incinerator or applied as a soil enhancement to farm land or sent to an Illinois landfill when the incinerator isn't operating.

The incinerator, which was damaged in the flood of 2008, has been offline for additional repairs since September, he said.

Hershner said the fire, which was discovered shortly after 7 a.m. during the plant's morning shift change, was in and around a conveyor used to move sludge to the plant's incinerator. However, he said it was unclear if the fire started in the conveyor, but he said the conveyor was in the fire in any event.

The fire's cause is still under investigation, he said.

Hershner said about 80 city employees work at the plant, which operates around the clock at Highway 13 and Bertram Road SE. About 30 employees were on duty at the time of the fire as well as some contract workers, he said.

No one was injured, he added.