Crews are stabilizing the banks along the Nogales Wash as they prepare to fix a partial breach in an underground pipe that carries millions of gallons of wastewater from Nogales, Sonora, to Nogales, Arizona, every day.
The emergency repairs to the pipe will include building a watertight enclosure to allow for inspection of the damaged area. The contract for that work went to Tucson-based KE&G Construction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is rebuilding the slopes of the wash that failed during heavy monsoon rains.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is testing water for E. coli bacteria near the breach, at the intersection of San Xavier Road and the Santa Cruz River south of Tucson, and at a location southwest of Eloy, according to a Tuesday news release from Santa Cruz County. Heavy metals were not detected in early testing. The daily testing and analyses will continue until the breach is repaired.
