Updated on Jan. 8, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. Local aquatic health scientists are expressing their disappointment and concerns after a recent sewage spill in Newport News forced the Hampton Roads Sanitation District to divert 29 million gallons of raw wastewater into the James River and surrounding tributaries. “It’s unfortunate,” said Kim Reece, who studies aquatic health at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. “It’s tragic actually.” Corrosion in a downtown Newport News sewage line caused it to break Monday, spilling raw wastewater into 16th Street between Garden Drive and Walnut Avenue. Sewage flowed into people’s yards and HRSD closed off parts of the area.