Edison declares state of emergency after burst water main on Highway 37

EDISON — City officials here called for a special meeting to declare a state of emergency as a main water line at the intersection of Highway 37 and MLK Jr, Drive burst Tuesday.

The city’s resources are overwhelmed, Lori Moore, an accounting clerk working for Edison, said. The city decided to declare an emergency to get help from the county and the state, if necessary.

Edison officials and the city’s Public Works Department don’t know too much about the severity of the leak, Moore said. One council member, who lives along the street where the main line is, called attention to the burst line after water was seen bubbling up through the asphalt Tuesday morning.

Right now, city workers are in the process of cutting the pavement so they can dig through the dirt and locate the leak to fix it. It’s a state road, so workers have to follow state guidelines as they do this work, Moore said.

The line is one of the main water lines that runs through the city, she said. Depending on the severity of the leak, it has the potential to affect all city residents and fire hydrants.

“We aren’t sure exactly what is leaking — it could just be a cap, but we initially suspected the main water line,” Moore said.

Edison officials spent the morning working with the Georgia Rural Water Association, a nonprofit representing rural areas throughout the state regarding drinking water and wastewater needs. The organization helped the city locate resources to fix the water line and sent a contractor to assess the leak and see what the repair needs are.

“They’ve been a huge help for us today,” Moore said. “We couldn’t operate without them right now. We appreciate all of their help.”

The next steps will come once staff figure out the extent of the leak and its damage.

The city has been grappling with other infrastructure issues since August. It’s been working with the GRWA to secure funding to repair a damaged sewer line along State Highway 37. While the sewer line is still working, a potential collapse has been looming amid the city’s recovery from a financial crisis that leaves it at upwards of a half-million dollars in debt.

This burst water line has come as a shock as city officials, the Public Works Department and residents alike were unaware of the faulty infrastructure.

File Photo: Lucille Lannigan[email protected]