A sewer line near 21 Kimbell Court north of Greenville overflowed Thursday, October 8, 2026, releasing an estimated 21,000 gallons of untreated wastewater through a manhole and prompting warnings to stay out of nearby Langston Creek. The spill happened between Old Buncombe Road and Poinsett Highway, and crews have since moved in to treat the area and post caution signs along the waterway.
Grease and Rags Blamed for the Blockage
According to Greenville Journal, the overflow was caused by grease and rags that had been flushed into the wastewater system. Utility officials with MetroConnects have pointed out that collection systems are built to handle only human waste, toilet paper, and used water, not the kind of debris that triggered this backup. Flushed items that don't belong in the system can clog pipes, and those clogs are what create the kind of backup that sent sewage spilling into the open near Kimbell Court, per WSPA 7News.
MetroConnects has asked residents in the area to avoid contact with the water at Langston Creek until testing is complete, the same report notes. The utility has not said the spill affected local drinking water, but the precaution reflects standard practice following a sanitary sewer overflow of this size.
Caution Signs to Stay Up for 10 Days
Caution signs have been posted downstream of the spill site and are expected to remain in place for the next 10 days while conditions are monitored, the Greenville Journal reported. Crews have also treated the affected ground with lime and added straw, an effort aimed at helping soil pH levels return to normal after exposure to the sewage.
Sewer backups like this one carry broader risks beyond the immediate spill site. Experts note that overflows of raw sewage could potentially affect public health, the environment and nearby water sources, concerns that echo findings in a case-crossover study on sanitary sewage overflows published by a research team tracking South Carolina gastrointestinal illness trends, which notes that such overflows may contaminate drinking water supplies in some circumstances.
How Spill Volumes Get Reported
State regulators caution that the reported volume of a given spill is typically an estimate of the net amount lost to the environment, since utilities can sometimes recover a portion of an overflow without that recovered amount being reflected in the total, according to the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services. Separate agency guidance lays out notification rules for wastewater utilities more broadly, requiring verbal notice to the state within 24 hours of a significant spill and written notification within five days.
For now, the advice to residents near Langston Creek is straightforward: stay out of the water until testing confirms it's safe, and expect the posted caution signs to remain a visible reminder of the spill for the better part of the next two weeks.
