ST. PETERS, Mo. – Several homeowners in St. Peter’s are left with a mess when the city sewer line is blocked, causing it to back up into their homes.
Three houses have been inundated with sewage in their basements, causing $40,000 to $60,000 in damages, according to residents.
“It came in and it was at least four to five inches deep of sewage—raw sewage—nothing else, it was literally just nastiness,” Shawn Layman, one of the effected homeowners, said.
St. Peter’s says they won’t be paying for the damages, either.
“Our investigation shows that the city was not on notice of any concerns for a blockage in the sewer main prior to this incident,” read a letter that was sent to residents. “In addition, the city did not cause or create any condition to cause a blockage of the sewer main. Because they did not cause and were not on notice of the blockage before this incident, the city is immune from liability.”
The response has left residents angry at the city.
“I could see if it was just one home, it would be a little different. But this was three homes, so how can they say it was our fault and not their fault?” Steve North, resident, said.
St. Peter’s spokeswoman, Lisa Bedia, said the city isn’t to blame for the damages.
“It’s a terrible situation and with any sewer backup, we want to respond quickly and help in the ways that we can. With this situation, the problem with the sewer, we were not aware of this backup until it happened,” she said. “If there’s a problem and we know about it and don’t fix it, then that’s bad on us, obviously, but in this case we didn’t know.”
Bedia said St. Peter’s was considering some ideas of how to help.
“We’re looking at a way that we can provide some support for the actual clean-up. That’s not something we had even looked at until this report from these residents,” she said.
One resident said that the city is helping with the cost of the lateral sewer line but not for the share of the damage. Some, like North, say the city isn’t doing nearly enough.
“It’s not right; I mean, I thought St. Peter’s was supposed to be one of the best cities in the area to live in,” he said. “Why aren’t you taking care of your homeowners? This has to be on them, it’s not right.”
Bedia said it’s taxpayer dollars they’re dealing with, so both sides have to be considered.
