About 100,000 gallons of untreated sewage spilled out of a pipe in Scanlon on Tuesday afternoon during a maintenance effort by the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District.
The scheduled maintenance repairs were set to begin about noon but a valve didn't close properly and the sewage escaped near the intersection of Maki Road and Old Highway 61.
WLSSD spokeswoman Karen Anderson said the spill was stopped just after 3 p.m. and that crews using vacuum trucks should have most of the sewage recovered by Wednesday. Much of the sewage drained into a swampy area, she said. Signs will be posted to warn people not to come in contact with the sewage.
The spill and sewer line closure forced closure of the Sappi paper mill in Cloquet for several hours until the line was reopened, Anderson said.
