MILFORD — A Radcliffe Drive family wants the town to pay thousands of dollars in cleanup costs after raw sewage allegedly backed up from the street into the basement of their house, leaving the husband “up to his armpits” in waste.
Diane O’Donnell, of 19 Radcliffe Drive, who lives with her husband, Raymond, and their 21-year-old daughter, Hollie, claims a backup in the town sewage pipes Dec. 18 burst through the family’s basement washing machine drainpipe spewing sewage onto the floors, walls, subwalls — and even her husband as he tried to clean up the mess.
A Bellingham company has estimated removal and cleanup of the hazardous waste to be $14,650, according to O’Donnell.
“Fifteen thousand dollars is more than we can afford. Why should we be responsible for the damage?” asked O’Donnell.
According to O’Donnell, she and her husband discovered “foul smelling” water that had backed up into the washing machine in the basement Dec. 18. After “wet vacuuming” the water for several hours, she said her husband tried to clean out the drain area. The drain cap became loose and sewage began flooding the basement.
In her Jan. 20 claim letter to the town, O’Donnell described the scene writing, “I immediately started vacuuming up the sewage which contained, among other things, what looked like paper towels or diaper wipes, toilet tissue and tampons!”
Unable to control the flow of water, O’Donnell said they called the Sewer Department but received no response so they were forced to call the Fire Department, which arrived at 3:30 p.m. and immediately contacted the Sewer Department.
John Mainini, of the Milford Sewer Department, last week referred all questions to Town Counsel Gerald Moody.
A Sewer Department employee arrived as soon as it took to drive from the Sewer Department. He shut down the pipe, but O’Donnell said the damage was done. The family had tried to keep up with the sewage slowly coming out of the washing machine for about six hours but couldn’t protect the basement from the sewage spewing from the drain cap. The walls and floors were saturated and her husband was covered in the raw sewage.
While calling the incident “very regrettable,” Moody advised the O’Donnells in a Jan. 30 letter that the town cannot accept responsibility for repairs or replacement based on the law and the circumstances outlined in Diane O’Donnell’s letter dated Jan. 20 that requested monetary recovery.
In Moody’s Jan. 30 letter, he said there was no negligence on the part of the town that caused or contributed to the backup in the basement.
While not acknowledging a blockage occurred in the sewer lines outside the Radcliffe House, Moody said assuming there was such a blockage and that blockage resulted in sewage getting into the house, there has to be proven negligence on the part of the town employees for the town to be held liable.
“Massachusetts municipalities cannot be liable simply for reason that there was a backup of sewage into a resident’s basement,” he wrote.
He also disputed claims that the Sewer Department was “closed,” saying it is manned 24 hours a day by an answering service, which takes all emergency calls and refers them “immediately” to the sewer supervisor who contacts an on-call Sewer Department employee. He also said the Fire Department and Sewer Department arrived in a timely manner.
Despite the letter of denial, O’Donnell said the town has offered the O’Donnells $2,500 to settle the matter — a settlement she said will not accept.
“The town has offered $2,500. We’ve gotten $2,500 from the insurance. That still leaves us $10,000 we have to pay ourselves,” said O’Donnell, who works as a temp along with her daughter. “I told them I didn’t think it’s a fair offer. At this point if nothing is done I plan on giving it legal recourse.”
Moody said he had no comment on the alleged settlement offer.
O’Donnell said in 1988 her husband had a right lower lobectomy for lung cancer and suffers from pulmonary problems — a condition she said was worsened by the sewage problem.
According to a Jan. 5 letter from a nurse practitioner at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, where Raymond O’Donnell was seen shortly after the sewage leak, O’Donnell is “now experiencing coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. This was most likely caused by the noxious fumes he was exposed to in his home.”
Raymond O’Donnell’s doctor, Mark Wilson of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, said he evaluated O’Donnell two weeks after the sewage incident and his patient showed symptoms consistent with asthma exacerbation. In a letter dated Feb. 16, Wilson said a second examination last week revealed enough persistent symptoms that the doctor advises O’Donnell to postpone a previous unrelated surgery due to his “compromised respiratory status.”
The family also contacted the Board of Health shortly after the incident.
In his report, Health Agent Paul Mazzuchelli stated, “Because this is raw sewage that backed up into this area, it is considered that this sewage contains pathogenic agents that have the likelihood to cause discomfort and/or sickness to individuals that are accidentally exposed to it.”
Mazzuchelli recommended a professional cleaning service to assess, clean and disinfect the area contaminated by raw sewage.
For the time being, O’Donnell said the family will have to wait in their home where black mold covers areas of the basement and see what happens. The house, which was on the market for $330,000 last fall, will not be re-listed until a resolution is reached, she said.