The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor A stay-at-home mom wants answers from City Hall after her residence sustained what may be its first sewer backup in more than seven decades. Denny Hyndman said the massive rains of Tuesday, Aug. 16 sent raw sewage "bubbling up" through the drain in her basement. "Had I not been home, my basement probably would have been submersed in between two and three feet of raw sewage for sure," she said. Hyndman, who lives on Princess Blvd., said her plumber told her the problem was not with her home, but with city infrastructure. She said she was told a combination of factors played a role, such as added water in the sewer system due to homeowners pumping out their basements as well as the inability of a lift station to keep up with the volume. 'Response plans' "To avoid this occurring again, the city should be looking into their emergency response plans to deal with heavy flows," said Hyndman. Coun. Bill Hanson, chair of the city's Engineering Services Committee, could not comment at this time on Hyndman's claims. "The whole system, what happened, is all under review right now and we're trying to figure out exactly what happened and why," he said. Coun. Hanson said the community experienced "an unprecedented amount of rain for a second time in three weeks" on Aug. 16 and that "the whole system was overwhelmed." One problem, he said, is that the city used to be able to have an overflow into Ross Lake for use during heavy rains, but that is no longer allowed under the law. Coun. Hanson said his personal opinion is that the city should have an overflow anyway and pay the applicable fine on those very rare occasions it is needed. Hyndman said she is aware of three, possibly four, other residents in her neighbourhood who experienced sewer backups on the same day. She has lived at her home for five years and said she has never had a backup. As far as she knows, this was the first time it has happened since her residence was built in 1938. See 'Water...' on pg. 3 Continued from pg. 1 "I expected water on that day. I didn't expect raw sewage," she said. "I just find it very odd. I would like an explanation as to how this happened." Hyndman reiterated how grateful she is that she was home when she heard the drain in her basement gurgling. It turned out to be raw sewage, complete with visible bits of toilet paper, making its way into her basement. She used one of her children's sand pails to scoop up the foul liquid, depositing it in empty storage totes. Once it stopped, she spent over eight hours cleaning up in the aftermath. But just next door, Dennis de Kock saw no evidence his home suffered a backup. He said he has had no problems since heavy rains around this time 10 years ago. Coun. Hanson could not confirm how many sewer backups there were on the day of last month's heavy rains, as not all of them were necessarily reported to the city.12/9/11
