Tempers Flare Over Sewage Spill

Tempers reportedly flared during last Thursday’s Planning & Zoning Commission public hearing at Westport Town Hall, when a throng of residents from the Saugatuck Shores neighborhood “demanded to know why a newly installed sewer system flooded one home with thousands of gallons of raw sewage,” according to a report on WestportNow.

In the report, Dan and Stacey Williams, who live at 9 Marine Ave., describe how “6,000 to 9,000 gallons of raw sewage” flooded their home after power was restored following Hurricane Irene. It was just days after they had switched over to the town’s recently installed pressure sewer system — now, as per the report, neighbors are questioning the safety and reliability of the system, which requires mandatory hook-up.

However, Bryan H. Thompson, coordinator of the town’s Water Pollution Control Authority (WCPA), reportedly tried to reassure residents, saying the failure was an isolated incident caused by a single faulty hose clamp giving way, not a system-wide failure.

Public Works Director Stephen Edwards and officials from Environment One Corporation, the Niskayuna, N.Y.-based company that installed the sewer system, reportedly served as moderators for the event.