An overabundance of rain was to blame for a sanitary sewer overflow Wednesday afternoon between Lowe’s and the parking area for the Swan Creek Greenway.

Frank Eskridge, water services manager for Athens Utilities, said less than 10,000 gallons of untreated wastewater escaped through a manhole. Athens Utilities employees were working late Wednesday to treat the area and restore it to a useable condition.

Until crews can fully remediate the spill, the affected area will be cordoned off with traffic cones and caution tape. Eskridge said the plan is to let the spill soak into the ground and then treat it today with lime, which will disinfect the soil.

He wanted to stress the wastewater that spilled was not solid waste material but instead rainwater that “found its way into the sanitary sewer system.” He added the spill did not occur because of a blockage or lack of capacity at the wastewater plant.