Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Storm causes Blacksburg sewer backup - again
About 4.25 inches of rain fell on Blacksburg in the 12 hours from midnight Monday through midday Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg. Apartment management distributed flyers Tuesday morning to all Tech Terrace residents warning them not to run any water until further notice.
The sewer at Webb Street is "full all the time, even during dry periods," said Kelly Mattingly, Blacksburg Public Works director, at a Town Council work session Sept. 21. When heavy rains seep into the sewer from storm drains, manhole covers and cracks and holes in sewer pipes, the already full sewer main overflows.
The Blacksburg Public Works department previously installed check valves in the apartment's sewer pipes to prevent sewage runninginto the apartments, Mattingly told council.
The check valves stop the flow of water and sewage into and out of the apartments. So, residents cannot flush toilets, take showers or wash clothes for fear of filling up their own lines and causing another backup.
Sewage backups caused by heavy rains have caused tens of thousands of dollars in damages at Tech Terrace since 1993, owner Jeanne Stosser said. She has filed a claim with the town to recoup those costs.
Town Manager Gary Huff told council Sept. 21 that the town's insurance carrier had put him on notice that if the sewer overflow problems were not solved soon future damage claims might not be paid.
Nearby, Heavener Hardware warehouse manager Danny Jones started sweeping effluent from the Webb Street manhole out of his parking lot by 8 a.m. Tuesday.
About eight inches of storm and sewer water "shot out" of the manhole in front of the warehouse, Jones said.
Much of the swirling grey water flowed down a nearby storm drain into Stroubles Creek.
Ronnie Combs of the Roanoke office of the Department of Environmental Quality said he wouldn't know if the overflow posed any health risk to residents until Blacksburg submits a required report within five days.
Combs called these sorts of overflows "unpreventable" during very heavy rainstorms and said localities across the state were experiencing them Tuesday.
Stosser said she believes the problem won't go away until the town fixes the overall sewer capacity problem, which has bedeviled the town for years and was a major issue in the May Town Council election.
Plans to build a conventional sewer through the Toms Creek basin were scuttled after that election swept out two pro-sewer council members.
At an August retreat, council agreed that assessing utility needs including sewer capacity problems would be a high priority for the next two years.
