Quick thinking on the part of sewer department employees is being credited with averting what could have become an environmental catastrophe Thursday morning.

Sewer department superintendent John Cankar and his co-worker Tavish Rathbone suddenly noticed the meter in the plant drop from .6 to .3 million gallons per day and realized there must be a leak somewhere, said Sewer Board Chairman Dr. Theodore Peters.

The pair started working their way up the line from the plant and found the leak in an area Cankar had been keeping an eye on behind Bassett Hospital's energy plant, according to Mayor Carol Waller. That area has been filled and the soil is loose there, she said.

Peters said Tuesday that they now believe the soil shifted, perhaps from the recent rains, and caused a joint in the 15-inch sewer main to separate and allow sewage to leak down the bank and into the Susquehanna River.

When Cankar and Rathbone found the leak at about 10 a.m., Thursday morning, they called men and equipment into action and by noon had the leak pretty much stopped, Peters said. A pumping station was set up to pump sewage around the breach in the pipe while repairs were made.

Peters said officials realized the location of the break and the severity would require machinery beyond what the village had available and contracted with Hanna Construction of Utica to do the heavy lifting.

Workmen from Hanna Construction put in a 12-hour day Friday and replaced 30 to 40 feet of the 15-inch main. The sewer main is scheduled for replacement as part of Bassett's recently approved facilities management plan.

Peters said the DEC was notified immediately of the break and spill into the river and responded to the scene. The village was told the agency did not plan to issue a violation for the spill.

Based on calculations Peters made Thurday, the raw sewage entering the river was "pretty well diluted." The amount of water coming out of the lake and over the dam was 600 times the amount of sewage entering the river, he said.

Department of Public Works superintendent Brian Clancy said he also credits Cankar and Rathbone's quick work for minimizing the spill.

"It was contained quickly. It could have been much worse." Clancy said. "I thought they did an excellent job."

Mayor Waller said the men at the plant made a "good catch" and that the DEC couldn't have been happier with the village's effort to minimize the amount that spilled into the river.

Peters said the village has not yet calculated the cost of the spill because a bill for Hanna's work has not been received.