Phantom Dumper unloads three times in 8 days, straining Orem sewer
Lawrence Burton, water reclamation section manager, walks on a catwalk above an aerobic digester that will eventually filter water back into the environment Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016, at the Orem Wastewater Treatment Plant. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Promotion on the Phantom Dumper from the Orem City website.
After a holiday lull, Orem’s sewer and waste water treatment plant has received three hefty helpings of garbage courtesy the still unknown Phantom Dumper.
On Jan. 16 and again on Jan. 17, the Phantom dumped the now familiar load of insulation bits down the sewer – a double dumping.
On Monday, another load was dumped, according to Neal Winterton, Water Resource Division manager.
“We had a break and then got hit three times in eight days,” Winterton said. “It’s frustrating because we’ve put out a lot of public information and if someone is doing it willfully it’s disappointing they want to take money from the pockets of the residents of Orem.”
Orem police detectives are now a part of the search and investigation into the matter.
Winterton said city crews are going to do a massive cleaning so there are no leftover bits of material with the hopes they might more easily see where it’s coming from, specifically before another dumping.
Over the past eight months the cost to ratepayers to clean the dumps has grown to well over $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.
“We are continuing to follow up on leads and continue to talk to businesses,” Winterton said in a Jan. 6 interview. “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.”
What Winterton is asking residents to do is share this information with their neighbors who may not have seen or read media reports on the Phantom.
He also reminds residents there is a $2,500 reward to the person that leads them to the Phantom Dumper.
The dumping is a class B misdemeanor and dumping fines are $1,000 a day.
For more information or to report a suspicious truck at any one of the 6,000 manhole covers around the city, call (801) 229-7491.
Phantom Dumper unloads three times in 8 days, straining Orem sewer
Lawrence Burton, water reclamation section manager, walks on a catwalk above an aerobic digester that will eventually filter water back into the environment Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016, at the Orem Wastewater Treatment Plant. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Promotion on the Phantom Dumper from the Orem City website.
After a holiday lull, Orem’s sewer and waste water treatment plant has received three hefty helpings of garbage courtesy the still unknown Phantom Dumper.
On Jan. 16 and again on Jan. 17, the Phantom dumped the now familiar load of insulation bits down the sewer – a double dumping.
On Monday, another load was dumped, according to Neal Winterton, Water Resource Division manager.
“We had a break and then got hit three times in eight days,” Winterton said. “It’s frustrating because we’ve put out a lot of public information and if someone is doing it willfully it’s disappointing they want to take money from the pockets of the residents of Orem.”
Orem police detectives are now a part of the search and investigation into the matter.
Winterton said city crews are going to do a massive cleaning so there are no leftover bits of material with the hopes they might more easily see where it’s coming from, specifically before another dumping.
Over the past eight months the cost to ratepayers to clean the dumps has grown to well over $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.
“We are continuing to follow up on leads and continue to talk to businesses,” Winterton said in a Jan. 6 interview. “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.”
What Winterton is asking residents to do is share this information with their neighbors who may not have seen or read media reports on the Phantom.
He also reminds residents there is a $2,500 reward to the person that leads them to the Phantom Dumper.
The dumping is a class B misdemeanor and dumping fines are $1,000 a day.
For more information or to report a suspicious truck at any one of the 6,000 manhole covers around the city, call (801) 229-7491.