Storm causes sinkhole, sewage leak in Orinda

ORINDA, Calif. (KGO) -- Wet weather opened a sinkhole in the East Bay that blocked a busy residential road also caused sewage to dump into a nearby creek in Orinda.

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The only way to find out just how deep the sinkhole went was to tear away at the street above it, which runs alongside San Pablo Creek. "Some sewage did get into the creek definitely, so we did some water quality tests, and reported it," nearby resident Chris told ABC7 News.

The sanitary district says the cause has yet to be determined. They don't know how extensive the leak was, but they don't believe the drinking water was affected.

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Crews were working to install a bypass so residents could continue using their toilets.

The sinkhole opened up next to Jana Rains' home, who says a fire truck discovered it. "They were about to drive over the bridge, then saw the sinkhole and luckily stopped because their fire truck would have ended up down in the creek," Rains said.

Orinda wasn't alone in suffering a sewage leak. East Bay MUD reported that a power outage at its main sewage treatment plant in Oakland triggered an overflow. "We had a deluge of storm water, and the storm water mixed with waste and overflowed at three sites," Janesse Miller with EBMUD said. Those three sites are Alice Street at the Oakland Estuary, Barnhill Marina at the Alameda Estuary, and Temescal Creek in Emeryville. Signs were posted at those sites warning people not to come in contact with the water.

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