HILLVIEW, Ky. (WDRB) -- Several inches of rain falling in a short amount of time Tuesday led to a wastewater treatment plant overflowing in Hillview, according to MSD.

"It was 4.5 inches of rain in a fairly short period of time so it just inundated and overwhelmed that wastewater treatment plant," said MSD Communications Director Sheryl Lauder. 

Sewer facility problems are not new for the area.

A Hillview homeowner, Larry Sneegas, captured video from his backyard of water spilling over the sides of the plant located at the end of Western Road and Summitt Drive behind Oxford Lane.

"I have seen it before, it's been a while," he said. 

Sneegas said he knew right away the rain caused the problem.

"This is the result of having a lot of rain in the area where the sewer lines are just not in good shape anymore," he said.

Hillview wastewater treatment plant

This image shows the wastewater treatment plant in Hillview, Kentucky. 

MSD acquired the Bullitt County Sanitation District facilities about a year ago, after reports of facilities that were falling apart and leaking waste into public water. According to previous WDRB News reports, problems have plagued the local sewer facilities for years.

Now, MSD is working on making changes and improvements.

"It's going to take a while but there are plans in the works," said Lauder.

Lauder said at the plant behind Oxford Lane, cleaning is underway.

"They will take a vactor truck which is like a really big vacuum cleaner and they will suck up what they can, water, debris, on the ground. And then they treat the ground, because most of that is just ground around there, it's just grass. They treat it with lime to mitigate any of the bacteria that's in that area," she said. 

Sneegas said he knows MSD has a large task ahead to work on multiple out-of-date facilities in the area.

"There's just a lot to do," he said. "I'm sure they have a long list of things to get to in a certain timeframe they plan to make it happen."

Lauder said MSD is developing both short-term and long-term plans for wastewater treatment plants in northern Bullitt County. She said some will be eliminated, while others will be rebuilt. 

"Our goal is to treat that wastewater regionally and to take a regional look at it to protect the entire watershed because a creek or a stream just doesn't stop at a county line," said Lauder. 

According to Hillview Mayor Jim Eadens, the city only owns one sewer plant and it is serving an industrial area. He said eventually, MSD will take that over as well. 

"What I know of MSD and the meetings we've had together, they have all intentions, 100% good intentions of fixing all these problems out here," said Eadens. 

He said patience will be required in the process. 

"It didn't happen overnight, they're not going to get it fixed overnight," he said. 

While MSD is operating the wastewater treatment plants, the city is still responsible for drainage. Eadens said city crews are working on fixing drainage issues as much as possible. 

"That's one of our main complaints is drainage and we work on it all summer. But then you've only got a short window you can work on drainage," he said. 

Lauder said anyone who notices issues at wastewater plants such as overflow should call the 24/7 MSD customer relations staff at 502-540-6000. 

"Our advice to anybody no matter where you live is, up to 24 hours after a rain event, avoid contact with creeks, streams, drainage soils, because you don't know what's in that water," said Lauder. 

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