Crews work to stop sanitary sewer leakage in Green Bay Feb. 13, 2026. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Cleanup efforts are underway in Green Bay after crews stopped six sanitary sewer leaks associated with a downtown project.
While the quantity of the wastewater release is still being determined, some of the sanitary sewer overflow reached the East River.
The public is asked to avoid the following areas where crews are working:
- Near Main Street and Monroe Street
- N. Irwin Ave. and St. Clair St.
- Near the north side of Whitney Park
- Pine St. and N. Roosevelt St.
- Near Baird St. and the East River Trail
- Pine St. between Webster Ave. and N. Clay St.
The city of Green Bay, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Brown County Public Health have all been notified. Sanitary sewer service remains uninterrupted.
Officials say on Thursday night, crews identified and stopped six sanitary sewer leaks associated with the Downtown Interceptor Renewal Project. Cleanup efforts on Thursday night were hampered by the frozen conditions, so the team shifted to securing the sites with caution tape to prevent public access. Crews are onsite Friday to work under better conditions.
Nathan Qualls, executive director of NEW Water, says crews are still evaluating why this happened.
“In this case, the pipe was actually out of service so it wasn’t actively transporting wastewater like it was during the active construction period but it appears that there were some maintenance going on with the pipe during the week because of frozen conditions and so we’re still trying to learn, you know exactly what led up to it but ultimately leaking wastewater from the pipe was the end result,” he explained.
Qualls says from what crews saw last night, the leaks appeared small.
“Evaluation in this case in like the volume is rather challenging. We did some early estimates last night but that was difficult because it was dark, right? We just really couldn’t see that much. The rate at which it was leaving the pipe was relatively small at the time, at all locations, it was pretty small individual leaks but not knowing the timing of when it started and maybe it was higher flow rate earlier so very difficult to assess, so we’re still trying to work on what that number might be,” he said.
Qualls added, “Any amount of wastewater that gets to the ground surface that’s not in a pipe where it should be, we take it very seriously and that’s why you’re seeing the amount of activity to get it cleaned up.”
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