The Greentown Grapevine – 2006-02, 13:02

              Leaking Laterals - No Big Deal? Hardly!
, -
I
Hidden beneath the ground
leading from our homes and
businesses a r e t u b u l a r
structures called laterals. YOU
may say, “ So what, they’re
hidden. Big deal!” In actuality
they are a big deal. Laterals
are the portion of the sanitary
sewer line that link those
. homes and businesses to the
Town’s sanitary sewer system.
Typically, most - but not all-of
the laterals are located on
private properly, while the
remaining portion, the sewer
main, is entirely in the public
right- of- way.
You again may ask, “ Why
is the Town of Greentown so
concerned about the condition
of the sewer laterals?” Those
sewer laterals that are in poor
condition pose two main
problems: ( 1) faulty sewer
lines can leak raw sewage into
the ground which is a public
health hazard; ( 2) storm water
can invade poorly sealed sewer
lines and can overload the
sewer system, causing
blockage and backups, and can
occasionally overload the
Town’s wastewater treatment
facilities, resulting in the
discharge of untreated sewage
into the Wildcat Creek.
In a nutshell, here is the
problem with. a large number
of Greentown’s laterals. Many
of the homes in our town were
built at a time when red clay
tile was used in the
construction of those laterals.
Most of those homes have
never had their original sewer
lines replaced. Over time,
these pipelines can crack,
become disjointed, experience
displacement and/ or be
subjected to intrusion by tree
roots, all of which can cause
leakage and blockage.
Leakage of raw sewage onto
the lawn area of a residence
can introduce ecoli bacteria
into a neighborhood through
rainwater flow. In addition,
some sewer laterals lack the
right kind of “ cleanout” which
p r o v i d e s f o r c l e a r i n g
blockages inside the line.
I I I
Cleanoul
The leakage that is at the main sewer line is the
attributable to the damaged responsibility of the private
laterals allows ground water to property owner. The Town’s
invade the Town’s wastewater responsibility is the upkeep of
system. This problem is the : ewer main to which the
especially acute during heavy lateral is attached. This is
rain events and during according to Town Ordinance
traditional wet seasons. On # I 990- 3. During recent smoke
the surface, this may not testing of the sanitary sewer
appear to be much of a system in the Town of
dilemma. However, the Town Greentown, many laterals were
of Greentown has been subject found to be in violation of this
to a “ Sewer Ban” since 1997. ordinance. Repair notices will
That is, no new sewer tap may be sent to those property
be added to the Town’s owners whose laterals are in
sanitary sewer system without violation. A grace period will
expressed permission from the be afforded to the property
Indiana Department of owners, however if no action is
Environmental Management taken to correct the violation, a
( IDEM). Therefore this ban surcharge may be added to the
effectively eliminates any new monthly wastewater bill
residential growth for the according to Town Ordinance
Town of Greentown. At the # 1990- 4.
same time it also prohibits any Without becoming too
new property tax revenue, technical, the Town of
attributed to new construction, Greentown is licensed by
from. helping ease the tax I D E M t o d i s c h a r g e
burden of the Town’s existing approximately 420,000 gallons
property owners. Remember, of treated wastewater per day
a community that does not into the Wildcat Creek. Leaky
grow becomes stagnant. laterals may contribute many
In the Town of Greentown, thousands of gallons of
as in nearly all local unwanted g~ aun~ wateprer ’ i ~ ~ y
jurisdictions, the maintenance
of the sewer lateral and
cleanout up to the connection
into the sanitary sewer system
Cont‘ d 0” Page 3
\
Spelling
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VY . Photo by Rachel J
Eastern E‘
ducted its ann1
on Friday, Fe
classroom representativ
fourth graders
KaYtlYnn Lawson,
Chilcott and Tessa Smi
graders McKinzie -
Adam Schaaf,
andR
Colby Marner, Andrew held Tuesday, March 14 at
Chilcott, Cole Booze, Justin Kokomo High School
Colwell and Mark Auditorium.
I McKinzie Horoho, spelling bee winner; and Justi. n~ Co lwell, runner- up
enkins
Breaks, Cracks,
_- ~ ~ ~~~ ~
are to be on a ballot at the
polls on May 2. Those are the
“ Greentown” and the “ At
Large” seats. They are
presently held by Larry
Hinesley and Marietta
McWhorter. Forms for filing
can be obtained from the
Howard County Clerk’s office
( first floor in the Court House).
Deadline for filing is noon on
Februab 17.
Bee Winners
Jementary con-ual
spelling bee
bruary 3. The
es were
Powell,
Trey
th; fifth
loroho,
Austin Forgave
iley Smith; sixth graders
Hercnenroeder. The winner
was McKinzie Horoho, along
with Justin Colwell as the
runner- up. After Justin mis-spelled
surveillance, McKinzie
spelled it correctly and then
proceeded to correctly spell
manganese. McKinzie will
advance to the Regional Scripps
Howard Spelling Bee, to $ e