Orem getting closer to solving Phantom Dumper mystery costing the city thousands of dollars
Orem’s Phantom Dumper left a Christmas present for the waste water treatment plant to deal with, and Orem leaders are saying these incidents are beginning to really stink.
A larger than normal dumping was left to muck up the sewer system just three days before Christmas. Seemingly, it looks like the Phantom became Orem’s Christmas Grinch.
There has not been a dump in the first five days of 2017.
The Phantom Dumper is not exactly the kind of mascot the city was looking for, but is a fitting symbol to express what kind of mess is going down the city’s sewers.
Over the past six months the cost to ratepayers to clean the dumps has grown to $90,000.
The dumping is preventing workers from doing other tasks that help the sewer system stay in good working condition. Trained technicians are relegated to clean-up duty.
But there might be a light at the end of the sewer tunnel.
“We are continuing to follow-up on leads and continue to talk to businesses,” said Neal Winterton, Water Resource Division manager. “The positive thing that has come from this is there is a lot of opportunity to connect with businesses and educate them on what and what should not be put in the sewer systems.”
According to Steven Downs, city spokesman, “We’re not just sitting back, we are being proactive.”
Winterton and Downs both acknowledged they believe that through several tests they have narrowed the substance down to particulates found in a form of insulation.
“Some of the pieces are larger, some are smaller,” Winterton said. “It’s a certain spectrum of size that is really small that is causing the problems. The individual or individuals dumping this are working with this insulation on a regular basis.
Now that the city believes they know the answer to what the material is, they are still searching for where it’s coming from, who is dumping it and why they are doing it.
They believe the where question could be in Orem, Lindon or Vineyard. These cities use the system and also have a great deal of construction going on that would use insulation.
“We’ve had 15 to 20 leads over the past few months. We believe the Phantom Dumper is leaving some marks behind somewhere, and we plan to sniff them out,” Downs said.
Winterton added, “We’re going to look at every lead. We’ve increased our samplers throughout the city trying to narrow down the location. We’re trying to catch the problem as soon as possible.”
To that end, Winterton said the Orem Police Department has been engaged as part of the investigation team.
“The police are investigating this and using their resources,” Winterton said. “These are resources that we couldn’t get as civilians. There are things that we wouldn’t have access to.”
The dumping story first broke on Oct. 27 after the city had endured dump after dump into the sewer system.
“We haven’t ruled out that the responsible party is doing this without realizing the problems it is creating,” Downs said in an earlier email. “Whether someone is purposely trying to get rid of this fibrous material illegally or whether someone is unknowingly dumping this into the system, it needs to stop.”
The city still has a $2,500 reward for leading them to the phantom. Downs added the phantom is seeping while you’re sleeping. Downs hopes residents will start being more aware of what is being dumped in the sewer system where they live.
The dumping is a class B misdemeanor and dumping fines are $1,000 a day.
Orem getting closer to solving Phantom Dumper mystery costing the city thousands of dollars
Orem’s Phantom Dumper left a Christmas present for the waste water treatment plant to deal with, and Orem leaders are saying these incidents are beginning to really stink.
A larger than normal dumping was left to muck up the sewer system just three days before Christmas. Seemingly, it looks like the Phantom became Orem’s Christmas Grinch.
There has not been a dump in the first five days of 2017.
The Phantom Dumper is not exactly the kind of mascot the city was looking for, but is a fitting symbol to express what kind of mess is going down the city’s sewers.
Over the past six months the cost to ratepayers to clean the dumps has grown to $90,000.
The dumping is preventing workers from doing other tasks that help the sewer system stay in good working condition. Trained technicians are relegated to clean-up duty.
But there might be a light at the end of the sewer tunnel.
“We are continuing to follow up on leads and continue to talk to businesses,” said Neal Winterton, Water Resource Division manager. “The positive thing that has come from this is there is a lot of opportunity to connect with businesses and educate them on what and what should not be put in the sewer systems.”
According to Steven Downs, city spokesman, “We’re not just sitting back, we are being proactive.”
Winterton and Downs both acknowledged they believe that through several tests they have narrowed the substance down to particulates found in a form of insulation.
“Some of the pieces are larger, some are smaller,” Winterton said. “It’s a certain spectrum of size that is really small that is causing the problems. The individual or individuals dumping this are working with this insulation on a regular basis.
Now that the city believes they know the answer to what the material is, they are still searching for where it’s coming from, who is dumping it and why they are doing it.
They believe the where question could be in Orem, Lindon or Vineyard. These cities use the system and also have a great deal of construction going on that would use insulation.
“We’ve had 15 to 20 leads over the past few months. We believe the Phantom Dumper is leaving some marks behind somewhere, and we plan to sniff them out,” Downs said.
Winterton added, “We’re going to look at every lead. We’ve increased our samplers throughout the city trying to narrow down the location. We’re trying to catch the problem as soon as possible.”
To that end, Winterton said the Orem Police Department has been engaged as part of the investigation team.
“The police are investigating this and using their resources,” Winterton said. “These are resources that we couldn’t get as civilians. There are things that we wouldn’t have access to.”
The dumping story first broke on Oct. 27 after the city had endured dump after dump into the sewer system.
“We haven’t ruled out that the responsible party is doing this without realizing the problems it is creating,” Downs said in an earlier email. “Whether someone is purposely trying to get rid of this fibrous material illegally or whether someone is unknowingly dumping this into the system, it needs to stop.”
The city still has a $2,500 reward for leading them to the phantom. Downs added the phantom is seeping while you’re sleeping. Downs hopes residents will start being more aware of what is being dumped in the sewer system where they live.
The dumping is a class B misdemeanor and dumping fines are $1,000 a day.