Sewer backup traced to grease from restaurant

A Dec. 4 sewer backup on Highland Drive in Fredonia was traced to a sewer blockage caused by grease from a nearby restaurant and bakery, officials reported last week.

Fredonia Public Works Director Roger Strohm said the village got a call at about 3:30 p.m. that day that sewage was backing up into American Taekwondo.

Crews found that a manhole cover at Regal and Highland Drive had backed up the  sewer  on Highland.

A television scope was sent through the line to help find the problem. There was no broken sewer pipe, the connection coming from the Casey’s construction site was clean  and there was no debris from a recent cleaning at the nearby Mobil gas station, Strohm said.  

There was, however, a  large  grease blockage in the eight-inch line near the Family  Restaurant  and  Miriam’s Amish Bakery that caused the backup, Strohm said.

There also was a large amount of sand from a  car  wash and the bottom 25% of the line for 20 to 30 feet was filled with concrete, presumably from washing out a cement truck, Strohm said.

Last week, Strohm told the Village Board that he would check with the county, restaurant and bakery to make sure they are in compliance regarding their grease traps so that grease is not running into the village sewers.