LEXINGTON, S.C. — The Town of Lexington is giving the all-clear for a section of Lake Murray that was temporarily closed due to a sewage issue after notifying residents of the spill previously.
The cove near 3340 Highway 378, which is roughly 10 miles outside the town, was initially placed under an advisory due to the spill. Town officials said it occurred along a small portion of the lake. Since then, test samples taken on Wednesday from the area of the cove have come back clear with authorities announcing that the shoreline areas are now safe to use.
Previously in the day, Lexington clarified a handout released to some residents living near Lake Murray that suggested they "refrain from any recreational use" of the lake due to a sewer spill. That initial notification, however, didn't provide a specific area of the large lake, causing some concern to arise online.
At this time, it's unclear how many gallons spilled before the issue was resolved; however, the city said "only a small percentage" of their customers are serviced by that particular line.
The resulting spill, according to the city, impacted about 40 properties on Bob Sharpe Point and a few others along a nearby cove. In the water, the city reports that the only areas potentially impacted were near the cove.
"Relative to the entire lake, it was a very small area in the cove, the cleanup was immediate and so it really only impacted the areas where those homeowners may enter the lake," a spokesperson for the town said.
Authorities said they are still waiting for test results to return which they expect to have within 24 hours. The city said it would post the test results as soon as they are available.
The Town of Lexington later shared the information on Facebook as well. An administrator for the page responded to some comments including one that asked why the town didn't share the news on social media earlier.
"If we were to post something in the first place, it potentially would have alarmed everyone about something that didn’t apply to them," the response said, in part.
The town added in a request from News19 that the level of notification is based on how widespread the impact is and that there is no concern that the spill could spread given the repair and cleanup that has already taken place.
