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Vandals cause 450-gallon sewage overflow from Kalamazoo manhole

Posted at 11:16 AM, Nov 06, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-06 16:35:34-05

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Kalamazoo Department of Public Services personnel were notified at 4 p.m. Saturday of a sanitary sewer overflow from a manhole located at 1720 W. North St.

Kalamazoo Director of Public Services James Baker told FOX 17 that the manhole is located in a wooded area and that vandals had removed the manhole cover and stuffed it with sticks, branches and debris.

The Department of Public Services Field Services staff removed the blockage at 11:25 p.m. Saturday. The amount of material discharged from the sanitary sewer manhole is estimated to be about 450 gallons.

Normal flow conditions in the sanitary sewer have been restored and the impacted area has been remediated.

Anyone with questions related to the release should contact the Department of Public Services by calling (269) 337-8768.

As required by law, Water Reclamation Plant personnel notified the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality at the Kalamazoo District Office and the Kalamazoo County Environmental Health and Community Services of the spill.