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WARREN -- City council approved emergency legislation Wednesday to allow the city's Water Pollution Control Department to get out of a messy situation at its offices.
A failure of a pump system behind the administration building during the early morning of Nov. 24 sent hundreds of gallons of polymer-filled sludge into seven rooms of the building, destroying carpet, drywall and office equipment.
Cleanup of the offices already has cost the city more than $39,000 and is expected to cost thousands more, according to Law Director Enzo Cantalamessa.
The legislation passed by council allows the administration to hire a contractor to complete the cleanup of the facility without seeking bids.
Cantalamessa estimates the cost will be more than $50,000, requiring council approval to go forward.
Water Pollution Control Director Ed Haller said a variable frequency driver for a pump that was supposed to push water extracted from raw sewage mixed with the polymer thickening agent failed. Instead, the foul water backed up into the administration building, rising, in some areas of the building, as high as 4 to 6 inches, but only a few inches in other areas.
The accident is believed to have happened between 2 and 3 a.m.
"The problem is we do not have any electronic monitoring and warning system in the plant that would warn of a problem," Haller said. "We have one man walking through the plant looking to make sure everything is working properly."
Haller said the office looked as if it was filled with chocolate, but was actually something that did not smell as good.
"This proposed a health hazard to our employees," Haller said.
The city hired ServPro to clean up.
"The city already has a working relationship with the company, so they were able to go to the plant almost immediately," Haller said. "The initial estimate was the cleanup would cost $30,000, but the company later found it would take nearly $10,000 more to do the initial cleanup."
Haller said the pump has been repaired. However, he warned, this was a catastrophic failure that is likely to happen again, until the first phase of an upgrade of the plant is complete over the next 24 months.
"The equipment at the plant is old and outdated," Haller said. "Because of the age of the equipment, I believe this could absolutely, positively happen again."
Drywall still needs to be torn out and replaced, and new flooring and equipment needs to be replaced.
"We are evaluating the costs," Haller said.
Repairs will be paid for with funds generated through wastewater fees paid by residents. The city is having its insurance company review the damage to determine how much it will pay.
Councilman Ken MacPherson, D-5th Ward, the only councilman to vote against the emergency legislation, questioned what seemed to him to be a high price for the cleanup.
"Its' a lot of money," MacPherson said.
Haller suggest the city pays, in part, for the speed of ServPro's response. He said most of the major cleanup was done prior to his arrival to the administration office at 7 a.m. that day.
"There were so many fans that I thought the building could take off," Haller joked.
rsmith@tribtoday.com