13-05-2025
90K gallons of sewage spilled at a South Valley school. APS didn't tell anyone about it right away
May 12—In December, a ruptured sewer line caused more than 90,000 gallons of wastewater to spill out of a manhole onto the campus of Harrison Middle School, which the local utility has since cleaned up. But school and district leadership never told students, parents or staff about the incident — and concerns have surfaced around the lack of communication.
It's not the first time the sewer system has malfunctioned in the South Valley. In 2023, a pipe broke, and the system discharged sewage into the nearby Rio Bravo County Park baseball field complex.
"If this would have happened anywhere other than the South Valley or in the International District, we would have heard about it the day that it happened," Harrison Middle School teacher AJ Woods said in a phone interview.
Albuquerque Public Schools objected to Woods' statement.
"We respectfully disagree. We care about the South Valley, and that's why we're investing $30.3 million in a building project at Harrison Middle School," APS spokesperson Martin Salazar said. "To imply a deeper agenda on this unfortunate incident is incorrect and not backed up by the facts." He added that environmental staff from the district also came to examine the site and "found no evidence of the spill."
APS didn't notify families or staff of the spill because the utility assured the district's Maintenance and Operations Department that "the situation had been fully addressed," Salazar said. The department, subsequently, didn't notify school officials, he added.
"In hindsight, we regret not letting our students, families and staff know what happened during winter break," Salazar said.
What happened
The ruptured sewer line that caused the Dec. 26 spill occurred at the southeast corner of 3912 Isleta Blvd SW, according to David Morris, spokesperson for Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, or ABCWUA. He said the 40-year-old line "evidently failed as a result of age."
The spill was what's called a sanitary sewer overflow, the release of raw sewage caused by things like blockages, line breaks and sewer defects. Morris said the water authority deals with the spills a few times a year, describing it as "an unfortunate fact of life in any sewer system."
ABCWUA followed its federally mandated Overflow Emergency Response Plan, which included pumping and vacuuming out the spill area and disinfecting affected soil, Morris said. He added that because the utility contained the spillage, it didn't trigger any enforcement actions from the state or federal government.
ABCWUA is currently working at the southeast edges of the school to install a permanent replacement sewer line, Morris said. He said it'll take about a year to complete, with construction areas cordoned off.
'Not a word was said'
When Harrison teacher Woods found out about the spill earlier this year, he started notifying parents and staff.
"For some reason, not a word was said about that incident formally from my administration to the staff or to the school community, or to the community at large that was impacted by this," Woods said.
One of those parents was, Genieva Chavez, who described the district as trying to hide the incident.
"At least they blocked it off, but not knowing that our children were exposed to something like that was definitely alarming," Chavez said.
The break happened when the school was out of session for winter holidays, and no APS property was damaged, according to Morris. He added that sewage didn't reach any nearby stormwater collection ponds, irrigation channels or the Rio Grande.
"The spill area was cordoned off and the water authority coordinated with APS regarding cleanup efforts and site access and security," he said.
But Woods was worried about the scale of the incident, saying "it's not a small event that took place at all."
He sent photos of his students covering their noses to ABCWUA.
"I was trying to get their attention to say, 'Hey, you guys cannot dump this. You cannot dump on our campus,'" Woods said.
When Journal reporters visited near the site, unpleasant smells wafted depending on the wind direction and strength. ABCWUA denied that the area consistently smells of sewage.
Morris said the only opportunity for sewage smell will happen when the utility drains an existing pipe in the far southwest part of the school, though he noted any smell would be minimal and sewage transporting processes would be done at night with "very few APS personnel or children present."
Woods in late February received a letter — which he shared with the Journal — from school Principal Jessica Adviento-Mackey that he described as "retaliation." Adviento-Mackey in the letter said the district prohibits "external advocacy efforts" such as Woods using his APS email address and sharing student photographs without permission.
Still, on Wednesday, Woods addressed the issue during the public forum portion of the APS Board of Educators meeting.
"I want you to imagine that your child goes to my school, where an environmental catastrophe took place in this capacity, and ask yourself, 'How would you feel if you were not notified about that?'"
