Pipeline break sends sewage into north Fargo homes
Kelly Smith, INFORUM
Published: November 5, 2009 12:00:00 AM CST
Mike Joelson’s north Fargo home survived last spring’s major flooding untouched but didn’t escape undamaged Wednesday after a surge of raw sewage.Wearing boots, Joelson surveyed damage after a sewer line break sent sewage shooting like a geyser out of toilets, bath tubs and basement drains in his home and up to 30 others nearby.
Unprocessed feces stank up Joelson’s furnace room, sewage water blanketed the white carpet, and up to 10 inches of black water filled the basement bathtub in his home on the 3100 block of 9½ Street North.
“It looked like mud in the bottom of the tub,” his wife, Sue, said, likening the “intense” smell to natural gas. “That was pretty gross.”
City officials, the Fargo Fire Department, health officials and cleaning companies responded to the incident, which happened around noon Wednesday.
A contractor was doing a test run on one of two major sewer lines connected to the city’s wastewater treatment plant in north Fargo when a plug in the pipe broke.
“Because that piece of equipment broke … (it) caused the water to push back,” said Fargo senior engineer Brenda Derrig.
She said a bypass pump couldn’t keep up, causing sewage to back up into homes.
It was a routine process that went wrong, said Eric Dodds, operations manager for Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services of Fargo, the project’s contractor.
“The contractor was taking the appropriate steps,” he said. “Something very unexpected happened.”
It was unexpected for residents, too, as sewage suddenly shot up to the ceiling in some homes and covered floors of others.
Onsite manager Dustin Dale of Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services said it was like “one shot out of a squirt gun … a big squirt gun.”
Deputy City Engineer Dave Johnson said 20 to 30 homes could have been affected, though it was too early to tell the full extent of damage Wednesday.
The city and contractors’ insurance companies are working with residents who are affected, he said.
“It will be no cost to the homeowners,” he said.
The Joelsons said they will be banking on that.
“It still stinks,” said Mike Joelson, who woke up Wednesday to the foul smell of sewage wafting through his home.
He said at least the basement carpet will have to be replaced. Likewise, resident Barb Geeslin, who lives on the 3100 block of 10th Street North, said she’ll need to replace her carpet and some of the Sheetrock.
“I have a headache already,” she said. “I hope they don’t test it again.”
Readers can reach Forum reporter Kelly Smith at (701) 241-5515
Tags: sewer backup, communities, news, fargo, sewage
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