MEMPHIS — The city of Memphis has dumped approximately 200 million gallons of wastewater into the Mississippi River since Friday.

News outlets in Memphis report that city officials said they had no other choice but to pump the wastewater into the river after failures at a wastewater plant near the flooding river.

Memphis crews have replaced one of three broken pumps at the plant, which is now partially functioning. Even still, the city is still being forced to pump sewage into the river, officials said.

“The age of our facility, the high river situation and the failure of some of those components, yes that was the perfect storm that led to this,” City of Memphis Director of Public Works Robert Knecht told WLOX.

The runway at a nearby airport remains closed with sandbags and aquadams lining the runway and hangars in an effort to keep sewage and floodwater at bay.

City officials expect the Department of Environment and Conservation to fine the city for dumping wastewater into the river.

“There is going to be a penalty because we obviously aren’t discharging in compliance with our permit,” Knecht said.

City officials said there is no evidence that the dumped wastewater is impacting wildlife.

The city expects to have the plant fully functioning by the end of the week.