The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality announced on Friday it has lifted an extended water contact advisory for the Pearl River, which had stretched south from Byram almost as far as Monticello.

MDEQ put the warning in place on June 5 after third-party utility JXN Water notified the agency of a “catastrophic” sewer failure at the critical West Bank Interceptor.

“Recent samples of the Pearl River, within the area of the extended advisory, indicate the impact of the untreated sewage has subsided and sample results have returned to pre-incident levels,” the agency said in a press release.

A 2019 advisory for the river, which runs from Hanging Moss Creek in the northern tip of Hinds County to the Byram Swinging Bridge, is still active. It warns the public against swimming, wading, or fishing in the water because of “ongoing sanitary sewer overflows around the City of Jackson.”

JXN Water discovered the most recent failure on May 28. The malfunction led to the release of between 10 million to 20 million gallons of untreated sewage into the Pearl River each day, according to MDEQ. JXN Water stopped the overflow on June 6, nine days after discovering the issue.

The utility estimated it is spending $300,000 a month to redirect the wastewater through 4,000 feet of piping, and will need $7.5 million for long-term repairs. JXN Water said it is working with the Environmental Protection Agency to secure the funding.