Rutland Herald
Crews were working to repair a sewage line break on Route 4 Thursday, although the cause of the break was not yet known, according to Jim Insinga, vice president and treasurer of Alpine Pipeline Corp.
Insinga said Thursday afternoon that the problem was reported around 9 a.m.
At the time of the interview, Insinga said he hadn’t yet heard from repair crews about what caused the problem or what was needed to repair it.
He speculated the problem could have been caused by frost, given the cold temperatures, but said it could also have been the age of the system.
Alpine is a private company that serves Killington, Mendon and Rutland Town.
Jeff Wennberg, commissioner of the Rutland City Department of Public Works, said the city has a contract with Alpine to maintain the pump station that serves the pipes.
On Thursday, some DPW crew members had noticed sewage had begun to surface near Johnny Boy’s Pancake House on Route 4.
The sewage pipe at that point is a “forced main” because it flows uphill, although Wennberg said it’s powered by gravity at other points.
The DPW crew turned off the pump station so the sewage would not continue to be forced to whatever area of the pipe was damaged.
Insinga said the interruption did not cause an interruption in service. Sewage workers from Killington were asked to temporarily not discharge their tanks while the pipes were being repaired.
According to Wennberg, septic haulers were brought in to move the sewage directly to the city’s sewage treatment plant.
Because the break could have sent some sewage into a wetland, the Rutland DPW reported it to a state website that tracks sewage overflows and incidents.
The report said some sewage could have reached Tenney Brook.
Insinga said he couldn’t recall another problem like the one found on Thursday since Tropical Storm Irene disrupted the system in August 2011.
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