Aerators break down at industrial sewer pond

Aerators broke down due to an electrical fire late Thursday at the industrial sewer pond used to treat waste from the tomato cannery, causing the city to use emergency generators at the site, city officials confirmed.
Crews on Friday addressed the problem at the industrial pond, but there may be a need for continued use of emergency generators to operate the industrial pond at the end of South Street, City Manager Bill Avera said late Friday.
That could mean further odor issues from the site, while a smell in recent weeks already had been coming from the city’s industrial sewer pond, caused by low pH levels in waste from the San Benito Foods tomato cannery during its three-month summer canning season.
Mayor Ignacio Velazquez on Monday, however, said he did not expect further odor issues. He said he felt confident the emergency generators were adequate to handle the industrial pond power for the last month of the canning season.
Velazquez explained that an electrical fire late Thursday caused the outage, and that crews had power back on late Friday. He said he believed the fire started on a Pacific Gas & Electric portion of the equipment at the sewer pond.
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