By Katie Northcott, News Director
According to the documents available through the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation’s (TDEC’s) database, the City of Manchester has five chronic manholes at the time of this article’s publishing.
In February 2026, TDEC fined the City of Manchester nearly $150,000 for excessive sanitary sewer overflow events (SSOs). Manchester experienced 108 SSOs in 2025 and reported seven chronic manholes. Manholes are considered chronic if they experience five or more overflows within a twelve-month period.
Find TDEC’s Commissioner’s Order and Assessment here.
The city has maintained that inflow and infiltration (I&I) is the main contributor to overflow problems. I&I occurs when outside water, like rainwater, infiltrates the sewer system, adding to the system’s treatment load.
Manchester Mayor Joey Hobbs expressed optimism at the May meeting of the Water & Sewer Commission meeting that the sewer system had seen less SSOs during the spring of 2026. At the time, the city only had one manhole that qualified as chronic. Hobbs attributed the decrease in overflows partially to a dry season.
“When you don’t have rain for four or five months, that counts against some overflowing,” Hobbs said. “Luck of the draw. Call it what you want. That is time that takes off the time since that overflowed. As I’ve stated before, if it doesn’t rain in Manchester, nothing overflows.”
Hobbs said he hoped to come out from under the TDEC-administered moratorium enacted in February on sewer connections since the city had less chronic manholes.
During the month of May, the city saw multiple rain events and reported at least 20 SSOs, bringing the city’s count up to five chronic manholes, according to data from TDEC’s public-facing database.
The following manholes have experienced chronic overflows during the period from July 2025 to June 2026: A39, A43, B44, B43, and G113. Additionally, manholes E38, G111, and J6 have experienced three overflows in the period from July 2025 to June 2026.
The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) recently approved a $20 million bond to help fund projects that will help mitigate SSOs. Find more reporting on the bond here.
Hobbs reported at the June meeting of the BOMA that the city had one chronic manhole. Peterson Media Group emailed Hobbs and Water & Sewer Director Lonnie Foley to ask about the discrepancy with TDEC’s database.
Hobbs said the confusion was due to problems with the city’s internal documentation:
“During a review of historical reporting records, the City identified instances where data submitted to the State was not reported consistently. Because the designation of chronic manholes is based on a rolling 12-month period, the applicable review period extends back to June 2025, which contributed to discrepancies in previously reported figures.
“Upon identifying these issues, the City immediately began a comprehensive review of internal records and is working to reconcile them with those maintained by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). The City has also engaged its engineering consultant to assist in strengthening overflow tracking and reporting processes to ensure accuracy and consistency moving forward.”
Foley explained at the June meeting of the Water & Sewer Commission that the city’s internal tracking sometimes listed what the state would consider one overflow as multiple overflows. Foley said overflow events that occur within a 24-hour period of each other are considered a single SSO.
“Some people were calling in and reporting it as three. Then, we went to look, and it was within [24-hours]. It was only one, but we reported it as three,” Foley said.
During the May meeting of the Water & Sewer Commission, Hobbs said that the problems with internal documentation have not affected the accuracy of TDEC’s documentation. However, at the June meeting, Hobbs said he did not want to give the commission a number on chronic manholes until internal documentation is reconciled with TDEC’s database.
Peterson Media Group also reached out regarding a recent Notice of Violation that TDEC leveled against the city due to a failure to conduct influent and effluent sampling from October 2025 to March 2026.
Sampling is the process of collecting representative samples of water for analysis to assess quality, detect contaminants, or monitor system performance.
Hobbs’ statement continues as follows:
“Additionally, the City acknowledges a recent Notice of Violation issued by TDEC related to missed semi-annual sampling between October 2025 and March 2026. This issue was identified during routine report preparation. Once discovered, TDEC was promptly notified, and the required sampling was completed on April 29, 2026.
“All other required sampling activities were completed as scheduled.
“The City has since implemented improved internal tracking, communication, and oversight procedures to ensure all regulatory requirements are met in a timely and accurate manner going forward.
“The City of Manchester remains committed to transparency, accountability, and full compliance with all environmental regulations and will continue working closely with TDEC to strengthen its processes.”
At the June meeting of the Water & Sewer Commission, Foley said he “accepted full responsibility” for the Notice of Violation and the miscommunication regarding chronic manholes.
“We did collect a sample. We just did not collect it within the allotted amount of time that was required,” Foley said regarding the Notice of Violation. “We have a new pretreatment coordinator and new chief wastewater plant operator. Going on what they knew, they took the sample a little bit late.”
Hobbs emphasized that once Water & Sewer Department employees realized their mistake, they self-reported to TDEC.
View the Notice of Violation below:
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