KALAMAZOO, MI — Vandals are to blame for 30,000 gallons of sewage that seeped into the West Fork of Portage Creek between the dates of March 28 and 30, according to Kalamazoo Public Services Director James Baker.

“Some vandals got into some manholes and filled the manholes with railroad ties which blocked the flow,” Baker said. “Obviously when we became aware of it we responded immediately and took care of it."

Kalamazoo public service workers responded to an address in the 300 block of West Kilgore Road at about 11:15 a.m. Monday, March 30, after learning that sewage was overflowing out of a manhole that was connected to a private sewer system.

Workers had the blockage removed by 12:05 p.m. and normal flow conditions were restored at that time, Baker said.

The city did not disclose the name of the property owner upon an initial request last week, citing privacy reasons.

Related: Sewage seeps into Portage Creek after private system overflows

Following a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette; however, the city disclosed Candlewyck Apartments as the property owner responsible for the private sewer system that overflowed.

In a follow-up conversation with Baker, after MLive learned who owned the system, the public services director said vandals were actually to blame for last week’s overflow.

“I think it could have been a lot worse and I’m glad we were notified of it when we were and and that we were able to respond and have it resolved very quickly,” he said.

Most of the 30,000 gallons of sewage that seeped out of the complex’s manholes reached the creek, he said last week, but the area was remediated Monday evening.

No arrests have been made, Baker said, and the city has not been able to pinpoint when the railroad ties were inserted into the manholes.

“It might take days or weeks or months before you back the flow up enough to cause an overflow,” he said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think when vandals do this kind of thing they realize what they are causing.”

A representative from Candlewyck Apartments was not immediately available for comment on April 6 or 7.

As required by law, Water Reclamation Plant personnel notified the Michigan Department of Environmental, Great Lakes and Energy at the Kalamazoo District Office and the Kalamazoo County Environmental Health Unit of the spill, Baker said.

“EGLE was notified, as required, but the incident was handled locally,” Nick Assendelft, spokesman for EGLE, told MLive.

The spokesperson said EGLE considered the incident to be properly remediated and resolved and that it would not issue a fine, based on the circumstances of how the sewage overflow happened.

Regarding the testing of surface water following the incident, Assendelft said, the county opted not to conduct any such tests.

Baker told MLive the decision to not test was based partially on the season and partially on the relatively low amount of sewage that spilled.

While 30,000 gallons of sewage may sound like a lot to some people, he said, the creek has been flowing at upward of 30 cubic feet per second, which equates to 13,000 gallons per minute, or 19.4 million gallons per day.

“I’m not trying to minimize a sanitary sewer overflow by any means,” Baker said. “It’s just that as we compare those volumes and make those determinations on whether we’re going to have a public health risk based on whether there is going to be full or even partial body contact from people in the creek, there was high confidence that this did not require testing.”

Had it been summertime when the creek is more active with more people were recreating, immersing themselves in the water or fishing, Baker said there most certainly would have been sampling done.

It can also be hard to get a read on the amount of bacteria in the water as a result of the sewage, he said, as there is naturally bacteria already in the water.

“We look to the health department for guidance on these things and they felt this was a low enough volume release in comparison to that stream flow and we’re in a somewhat remote area and a couple months out yet from full and partial body contact,” Baker said.

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