Central contractor knee deep in muck
Published on October 23rd, 2002
STONEHAM, MA - A handful of Stoneham residents have the unwanted and undeserving job of flushing out their basements after a sewer back-up at Merrow Lane.
According to Stoneham Department of Public Works Director Bob Grover, an emergency crew was summoned to a blocked sewer line on the property of the new Central School late Sunday evening. A group of four houses on Merrow Lane had sewage backing up through their basement toilets and shower drains, and was creating an acrid mess.
“We found a manhole, which was on the Central Elementary School property, was filled with rocks and debris,” said Grover. “It had been covered over, apparently, when the area was regraded by the school contractor.”
“The sewerage had been flowing through the rocks for a certain point of time before it just clogged up,” added Grover.
Grover added that he had been in contact with both the school’s architect and school department, and was 100 percent sure the back-up was caused by the school contractor, Alexandra Construction.
DPW officials scrambled to get together an emergency crew and pumping trucks around suppertime on Sunday night, and then find out the origin of the problem. The crew struggled in the dark to find the problem, and were led to the new Central.
According to Grover, the manhole looked completely normal because a piece of plywood had been placed under the manhole casing.
“When they uncovered the manhole, they found that somebody had shoved a piece of plywood in there rather than cleaning the rocks out,” said Grover. “It was something that should not have happened.”
Grover said that the worst issues of sewerage in the basement were from those houses at the low end of Merrow Drive, and those with bathrooms in their basements.
“I recommended to those people to invest in a cleaning company to make sure the basement is sanitized, and to contact their insurance company to make sure that their homeowners insurance will cover it,” said Grover. “I’m sure I’ll be hearing from the insurance companies looking for reimbursement from the contractor.”
Improperly cleaned sewage could potentially lead to mold problems in the basement, and could potentially pose health problems to young children and those with weakened immune systems.
“If they had a finished basement with plaster walls, and sewage got on them,” said Grover who estimated that cleaning costs could be in the thousands. “Then you’re talking about cutting out the bottom of those walls.”
“It’s just like rainwater, the lower houses received the brunt of the sewage output,” added Grover.
Grover had crews out there for three days last week fixing the problem on Sunday, removing the large boulders from the sewer line on Monday, and then reconstructing the damaged manhole on Tuesday. Grover estimated that the incident cost the town of Stoneham between $5,000-10,000 in manpower and equipment costs.
“I’m not so sure that the construction company did it on purpose,” said Grover. “They obviously took the casting off or knocked it off with a bulldozer when they were re-grading, filled it up with rocks or whatever,” said Grover. “But someone was aware of it, because they put the plywood over the rocks and then put the casing back on.”
“It was a deliberate cover up by somebody, and it wasn’t the town,” added Grover.
Calls to both Stoneham Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Connolly and Assistant Superintendent Joe Casey were not returned at press-time, and Alexendra Construction could not be reached for comment.
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