Beginning Sept. 8, the Honors Center and Human Resources Office (HR) located on the main floor of Myer Hall resumed normal operations following a sewer backup the first week of the semester.
On the night between Aug. 23 and Aug. 24, the main sewer trap servicing Myer clogged. This resulted in sewer water backing up into the nearest available opening—a floor drain located in one of the Honors Center’s restrooms. Environmental Services acted quickly to address the backup.
“The Environmental Services people were already working when I got here to work,” Luke Mackey, Assistant Director of the Honors Program, said. “When I got here, it wasn’t super bad since they were already working. Which is good.”
The clog was resolved, but not before the Honors Center and neighboring HR became victims of the sewer water. HR got the worst of the impacts, requiring a temporary relocation while Facilities Management remediated the area.
“Everyone was a bit overwhelmed at the situation and urgently trying to figure out what to do next,” Rich Caloiero, HR’s Director of Employee Experience and Success, said.
In HR, the entirety of the carpet was replaced after becoming saturated. Hard objects on the ground were removed quickly and sanitized. Although facilities got to work quickly, for two weeks HR operated out of three office spaces located on the second floor of Nicarry Hall.
“It went well, all things considered,” Caloiero said. “We were fortunate enough to find empty office spaces so quickly.”
The timing of the backup represented a major hurdle due to the daily work HR is responsible for, but because of quick action, operations were conducted without much issue. In addition to campuswide emails, a sign on the door directed people to the temporary offices in Nicarry.
“With it being the first week of classes, a lot of students who are employed here on campus come to HR to do their paperwork,” Caloiero said. “I don’t know of anyone that was not able to find us or communicate with us.”
Meanwhile in the Honors Center, Facilities were busy cleaning the less impacted carpet and installing new luxury vinyl plank (LVP) flooring after water seeped underneath it. For the Honors Program, it was an ironically convenient time.
“Thankfully, I didn’t have anything planned the first week,” Mackey said. “We had orientation that previous week.”
Unlike the HR offices, the offices of Mackey and Jean-Paul Benowitz, Director of Prestigious Scholarships, were unaffected allowing them to conduct work and meetings. Though at times they had to work elsewhere while Facilities were installing new LVP. The Honors Lounge and study corrals used by students remained closed for the two weeks of remediation.
“I felt bad especially for first-year honors students if they wanted to see if the Honors Center was a nice place for them to study,” Mackey said. “They were able to do that since it was under construction.”
Both Mackey and Caloiero applaud the work of Facilities staff to get their respective areas back to usability. Facilities Director Jerry Schaber says that unfortunately sewer back ups like the one in Myer often occur during the beginning of the semester.
“At the beginning of every semester, Facilities does deal with multiple sewer backups across campus,” Schaber said. “The use of flushable wipes does not break down when flushed down the toilet like toilet paper does. “
Wet wipes marketed as “flushable” are being credited with causing this most recent backup. Such wipes were found in Myer’s sewer trap, and camera inspection of the pipes showed no other issues or damage. Students are encouraged to avoid flushing these wipes down campus toilets.
“These products are made to be disposed of in a trash can,” Schaber said. “The use of these ‘flushable wipes’ causes clogs in the sewer piping and thus the resulting backups.”
