Yesterday, September 3rd, the sewer line in the alley was finally fixed.  The bill on our credit card is a whopping $4600 or so, but at least the steady stream running through our yard and into the alley has stopped.  Turns out that the entire section was crushed and our neighbor's connection was busted.  We've got some serious problems underground over here.  I rode my bike down the alley and aside from the mushy kitty litter remains, there is hardly any sign of work done.  The smell has gone away, which is a bonus.  Now all we have to do is convince our 12 neighbors to fork over $380 each to pay for the repair.  That ought to be fun.

Unfortunately we still have to put in the line from our house to the lateral.  We're hoping we can do this ourselves and save some cash.   We've almost got the entire ditch dug, so now we just have to finish digging, lay some pipe, and take about 5 trips to the hardware store (as that is one of Murphy's home improvement laws).  

For the time being, we're trying to find alternate bathrooms for solid waste (gym, work, school, etc), but we're still showering and washing dishes, etc.  We just have a big hole in the backyard where it all drains into.  Actually, it is more beautiful now because I did some painting on Labor Day.  The puddle has maintained a nice aqua blue color, which reminds me of a gorgeous glacial lake.   Ahhh.  

We used to look at our backyard with pride and enjoyment in our eyes.  Now I look at it as a sumphole.  It's disgusting and I don't even want to see it anymore.  My vision of the perfect backyard is tainted.  Oh the sorrows of sewage infiltration. 

I went to a community meeting this Thursday that was all about convincing people to change at least one trip a week into an alternative transportation trip.  Today I decided that I'd take the bus for a change.  I used to ride the bus all the time in Mexico and Australia, so I'm not totally new to the concept, but the first time is a bit nervewracking. 

I waited at the stop for several minutes as a few people eventually joined me.  I was headed downtown.  When the bus finally arrived, I paid my dollar (didn't get my 25 cents back because it requires exact change) and I grabbed one of those "sideways" seats.  I noticed a character across the way from me on the other "sideways" seat.  Hewas a bit dodgy to tell the truth. Sometimes there are people that look grungy and interesting, and sometimes they just look dodgy.  He had long wavy hair that looked like he had dyed it grape purple about 2 weeks ago.  The color was fading in his already thin, blond hair.  His hemp bracelets and necklace looked like they'd seen many years attached to his skin.  His clothes were ripped up (in that purposeful, well worn way) and brown, baggy, and in several layers.  "Hmm", I thought, "Glad I sat on this side".

We proceeded on our way and a few people joined, a few got off.  I smiled as the old woman in pink gathered her grocery bags and slowly took one step at a time to get off.

Then something unexpected happened.   Purple hair dude got up to ask the bus driver a question.  This isn't a regular act, so of course it caught most people's attention.  He muttered something about "was this the place to get off to go to Blaine?".  Just as he started talking, however, I think we all dropped our gaze a bit to notice his white, pimply, hairy butt exposed to all of us.  His pants were riding so low that his underwear were being pulled way too low.  It was an image many of us probably would rather not have.  I heard whispering, so I know I'm not the only one who saw this.  I got of at the next stop.

Anyway, reason #1 not to ride the bus: sharing the seats with bare butts. Yuck. 

We, Heather and Miguel are experiencing quite a disgusting and  perplexing problem.  Basically the main sewer line  running through our alley has become obstructed  near our southern property line, and has  subsequently broken, which has been causing raw  sewage from the alley to leak into our backyard for  over a week now.    From what Favinger Plumbing saw yesterday, very  little sewage from the houses on the East side of  Franklin Street is actually making it out to the bigger  lines in Whatcom Street.  Most of the sludge and  solid material is backing up in the line and the liquid  is spilling over into our yard, from all 10 or so  houses uphill of ours.  We now have about 2-3  inches of liquid raw sewage in our yard at any one  time (photo included).  The liquid and sludge are  beginning to back up even further in the pipe and  liquid is now backing up into Babbie’s sewer line to  the South of us.     

If you walk down the alley, you will see a wet area  running down the West side of the alley from Babbie’s house to ours; this is sewage seeping through the  ground starting at the location of the blockage.     

We started having this problem last Monday (18th) and the city came to assess the problem.  We have had  the health department out as well, but to little avail.  Basically, they said “yep, you should fix this.”  This  is the response from Dick McKinley (Director of Public Works) when I wrote to him this morning:”  Unfortunately, this is a private shared lateral, not a City-owned public sewer line. It is no different than  the lateral in front of your house.  This is the responsibility of the private owners of the line. The City  cannot use public (ratepayer) funds to solve this problem. That would be considered a gift of public funds  and against State law.”   

This is a map of our sewer line.

The perplexing part of the issue is that the city does not claim responsibility NOW, but if we were to fix  the problem at our expense, they would resume ownership of the line.  Also, the city does not allow  private persons (us) to do any maintenance work in the alley (even though they claim that we have  “shared ownership” of the line), so we would have to use their contractors to do the work.    An important point to consider is whether or not it would be prudent to replace the entire line, or just the  40-foot section that appears to be damaged so far.  Although we haven’t received a formal estimate yet, just to replace the line from Edwards to Whatcom Street.  The pipe is 6” in diameter and is between 60  and 90 years old, made of concrete and similar pipes have been known to fail in other areas.  Regardless  of what needs repair in the alley, Miguel and I will also have to repair the line from our house to the main  line, as that appears to be damaged as well.   

If you have any information on this issue, or if you know anyone in Bellingham that has experienced a  similar problem, your input is valuable.  At this point, we have met with the York Neighborhood  Association, and have several people contacting prominent players in the community for help.  We are  strongly opposed to fixing the line in the alley on our bill (personally or as a group), and quite frankly it  should be the city’s responsibility.  The bottom line, however, is that something needs to be done to fix  the problem immediately, or eventually, it will affect everyone on the block.    We’re sure the city has experienced this same problem in other areas of Bellingham, but their answers to  our questions as far as “who is responsible” don’t seem reasonable. 

Stop by and See the Problem this weekend (we’ll be digging in the backyard)  When we receive more information, we may be calling a meeting with as many people as possible on our  street to talk about our options.  In the meantime, we’re dealing with it and trying to form a solution as  fast as possible.  We ask our neighbors to please conserve and to be extra-conscious of what goes down your drain  for the next several days (please no chemicals, harsh detergents, etc); as it is most likely ending up in  someone’s yard.