Wednesday, February 23, 2000

Sewage spill in Parker neighborhood attributed to human error

MIKE CLEMENTS The News Herald

Human error is blamed for sewage backing up into one house and spilling into the yard of another in Parker Monday night.

Richard Hunt, wastewater superintendent for Bay County, said there was no appreciable property damage and the mess had been cleaned up by Tuesday afternoon.

Hunt said the problem - in the P-14 lift station at the intersection of Stratford Avenue and Michie Street - was caused by miscommunication between a contractor and subcontractor.

The contractor, LSLT Churchwell Inc., reportedly has taken care of the problem and Hunt doesn't expect there to be any long-term trouble resulting from the spill.

"There was no sewage in any residences," Hunt said.

The problem began around 9:30 p.m. when some pumps inadvertently were shut down at the lift station. A subcontractor was replacing a switch for some new pumps and had cut off electricity to the pumps, Hunt said.

While the pumps were down, a trash pump was temporarily installed to keep the lift station running.

When workers came to remove the trash pump at the end of the day, they apparently didn't realize they needed to re-energize the main pumps.

As sewage filled the station, it had nowhere to go, backing up into surrounding sewage lines and overflowing through clean-out fittings.

Workers responding to complaints energized the pumps and solved the problem, Hunt said.

He said sewage reportedly backed up into a toilet at one house and overflowed into a yard at a mobile home.

Restarting the pumps solved the toilet problem. The contractor and the county helped clean up the spill at the mobile home.

The problem was an isolated one, Hunt said.

Churchwell had completed more than 30 lift station projects, all at working stations, and this was the first problem, Hunt said. LINK

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-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 23, 2000