DOERUN — Excessive rain last week is blamed for a sewage spill in Doerun.

The City of Doerun reported the spill at the Union Drive lift station in an email to The Observer on Monday. The spill happened sometime between 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday due to a mechanical failure of the pump, City Manager Alyssa Blakley said in the email.

“It is estimated that there has been less than 10,000 gallons of sewage that was discharged into a drainage ditch which leads to the Ochlocknee River,” Blakley’s email said.

“The city could not take corrective actions to mitigate the issue prior to the incident due to excess rain through Friday night and Saturday,” the email said. “Doerun received over 5 inches of rain, which is believed to cause the mechanical failure at the station.”

The City of Doerun has plans to connect all lift stations to the city’s supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to help mitigate future spills, but the email did not lay out a timeline for that work.

The incident was very similar in scope and cause to one reported in April at the East Broad Avenue lift station. Less than 10,000 gallons of sewage was released April 11 due to a mechanical failure of a pump that was blamed on excessive rain. Doerun received more than 5 inches of rain at that time too.