Clean-up begins, Aberdeen residents question response

Aug. 20--Piles of garbage were ready for pickup Tuesday following Sunday's water main break that also collapsed a sewer line at 12th Avenue Southeast and South High Street. Meanwhile, residents at the apartment complex on South High Street are voicing concerns over why city officials didn't notify them about the flooding.

Lisa Vansteenwyk said her neighbor woke up Sunday, found a mess in the basement and knocked on her door. After that, she called the head of building maintenance at Lawson View Townhomes, who wasn't aware of the problem.

Vansteenwyk said her apartment had sewage backup in the basement, while some of her neighbors had predominantly water.

"As soon as they knew there was water, they should have started knocking on doors," Vansteenwyk said.

Vansteenwyk and her boyfriend, Jesse Ulmer, had a thick coat of sewage on many items in the basement that simply ended up being tossed -- some of those items included winter coats, baseball cards and a collection of cassette tapes.

Brent Kraft has been helping his ex-girlfriend clean the mess in her apartment for the past two days. He also said those involved should have been notified. He walked through knee-high water Sunday trying to salvage what he could from the basement.

"I hope the city does something," he said.

Stu Nelson, the city's assistant city engineer, updated the city council Monday on the water main break. He reported that, by the time officials located the break, the damage was already done.

An on-call employee responded to a high-water alert at the Riverside lift station around 4:30 a.m. That station is at 10th Avenue Southeast and Riverside Drive, according to Nelson, pointing out that it also handles the sanitary sewers for the southeast part of Aberdeen. The lift station is three blocks west and two blocks north of the water main break.

Nelson said, within 30 to 45 minutes, the on-call employee determined that a water leak was causing the high water and started checking manholes for evidence of high water. Through that investigation, city employees found the break and hole at the intersection of 12th Avenue Southeast and South High Street, according to Nelson, who said, from there, efforts were focused on addressing the water leak.

In a follow-up interview Tuesday, Nelson said city officials can't start knocking on doors until they know where the water main break is, and, even then, without a comprehensive understanding of the city's distribution system, it's hard to determine who the affected residents are.

"The best use of resources is to shut down the area and address the problem," said Nelson, acknowledging that it may seem to be a callous response, but it's best to focus resources where they can do the most good. "We understand people's frustrations, but we've dealt with enough of these things. We know what we've got to do to minimize the damage."

During the city council meeting, Nelson said an estimated 20-square-block area south and east of the water main break was potentially affected. As of Tuesday afternoon, 32 residents had requested paperwork to submit a damage claim to the city's liability insurance carrier.

Human Resources Director Al Ruhlman said those requests will be collected and submitted to the insurance company for consideration.

Nelson said Sunday's water main break was unique.

"Very rarely would you have this kind of situation," he said. "Most of the sewer mains next to the water mains are not going to take the flow this one took."

City crews started picking up contaminated materials at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Follow @ElisaSand_aan on Twitter.

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