FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The Fort Worth Water Department says its workers inadvertently used a disinfectant they shouldn’t have while trying to get rid of the odor caused by a sewage spill along Mary’s Creek and killed about 3,200 fish.
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokesman Brian McGovern told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Wednesday that the agency is investigating.
The fish kill occurred June 23. A day earlier city crews had worked to contain a sewer line break along the creek that had put 130,000 gallons of raw sewage into it.
Water Systems Superintendent Bill Lundvall says city staff “takes full responsibility.”
The city says the chemical, which contained rubbing alcohol, eventually evaporated.
The city says nearly half of the fish killed were minnows. Perch, bass and catfish were also killed.