Officials from the Macon Water Authority responded Tuesday to Monday's delay in their reponse to the sewage spill in the Ocmulgee River.
Roland Neel noticed the spill's source as a gushing sewage pipeline near his home facing the river on S. Pine Knoll Drive in Macon.
After calling and e-mailing the Water Authority, he says it took them a few hours to finally respond and fix the spill.
Water Authority Executive Director Tony Rojas says Neel shares part of the blame for not giving his correct address. In a recorded phone call, Neel says "North Pine Knoll Drive" instead of the correct "South Pine Knoll Drive." Rojas says that may be because Neel wanted crews to enter in a location other than his driveway.
"I'm putting you on notice, you busted my driveway the last time and refused to pay for it," Neel goes on the say in the call. But by not giving the correct address, Rojas says that caused confusion and led crews to waste half an hour finding Neel's address.
After reassessing the discharge, the Water Authority raised their estimated amount from 2,700 gallons to 4,860 gallons, based on a larger pipe they previously estimated, and by using Neel's initial e-mail as the starting point as opposed to the first time they reached him by phone.
But the one questions no one knows is how long the sewage spilled before Neel noticed it. Neel says he agrees with Rojas' estimation of 4,860 gallons over the three hours, but says depending on how long it was spilling, that number could be a lot higher.
In order to qualify as a "major spill" that would trigger mandatory water testing and other precuations, a spill must have 10,000 gallons. Although the spill was 4,860, the Water Authority says they plan on running the tests anyway to be safe.