The Navy now says that approximately 14 million gallons of sewage flowed from a barracks into the San Diego Bay over the last two years.
Today’s estimate is nearly four million gallons more than what the Navy first reported last week.
The sewage spill stems from a pipe that ran from Palmer Hall, a 1,032-bed, 12-story barracks at Naval Base San Diego. Wastewater from toilets, sinks and showers flowed into the pipe, which was improperly connected to a storm drain that feeds directly into the bay.
At the time of its construction in 2004, Palmer Hall was touted by the Navy for its environmentally sensitive design elements.
The Navy is currently working to sanitize the storm drain and is testing for sewage contamination around the outfall and in the bay. So far, those tests have not found any contamination, according to a Navy press release.