Testing of the river and other waterways by the state, local natural resource districts and others will resume once the flooding subsides, the state says.

“We don’t anticipate any long-term environmental impacts from the discharge,” said Reuel Anderson of the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. “Really we’re going to see more impacts from the flood than we are from this discharge.”

Hard as it is to imagine, the situation could have been worse. The city’s other wastewater treatment plant, the one just south of the South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Missouri River, also nearly flooded.

All that saved the plant from flooding were temporary berms and a whole bunch of sandbags, Theiler said.

It’s not yet clear how much repairs to the Papillion Creek plant will cost. The city privately insures the plant and will receive federal disaster aid, Stubbe said.

The Public Works Department gained access to the waterlogged property for the first time this week. They had to drive over a levee because the plant’s driveway remained underwater and in need of inspection.

Employees are assessing the extent of damage to the plant’s pumps and electrical systems.