An undetermined amount of sewage got into the East River following several leaks Feb. 12 in the Green Bay sewerage authority’s black pipes that are temporarily diverting wastewater amidst the larger $29 million downtown sewer renovation project.
The Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District – also called NEW Water – first found a leak around 6:15 p.m. Feb. 12 at a black pipe near Main Street and Monroe Avenue, according to the authority.
The sewerage district then found four more leaks later that day, around 9:45 p.m., in its black pipes roughly running parallel to the East River near several highly frequented areas, like East High School. Specifically, the leaks were near:
North Irwin Avenue and St. Clair Street
Main Street and North Van Buren Street, near Whitney Park
Pine Street and North Roosevelt Street
Near Baird Street and East Walnut Street, near East High School
The authority on Feb. 13 was still determining the full extent of wastewater that had escaped. After about an hour until the first leak was stopped, an estimated 1,600 gallons of wastewater had escaped, some of which «may have reached the East River,» Tricia Garrison, the authority’s public affairs manager, said in a Feb. 12 email. As for the four other leaks, the authority was still undetermined in its quantity, some of which Garrison said had reached the East River.
Garrison did not immediately have information on whether the leak posed any public health concerns. She also did not immediately identify a cause of the leaks.
A previous leakage in a black pipe Dec. 16, 2025, near East Lawn Park, had been caused by a broken air release valve, Garrison said in an email at the time. That leak spilled about 700 gallons of sewage, none of which reached the East River, according to the authority.
Crews were cleaning up the wastewater, according to Garrison. Though they’d stopped the leaks Feb. 12, their decontamination efforts were «hampered by the frozen conditions» that night, forcing workers to put up caution tape.
Workers were cleaning up the morning of Feb. 13 «under better conditions,» Garrison said.
The Brown County Department of Health, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the City of Green Bay had all been notified of the incident, according to Garrison.