Lawton City Council presented $98k bill for sewage overflow in residence

A bill for almost $100,000 in damages blamed on a sewage overflow in a Lawton house was presented Tuesday night to the City Council. Shawn Donley filed a damage claim for a sewer backup that he said occurred May 10. Donley alleged raw sewage flooded the house at 4831 SE Tattershall Way that’s owned by Helen Donley. The wastewater damaged the inside of the home and destroyed furniture and fixtures, he said. Shawn Donley filed a claim for $98,599, which included $20,293 for replacement of personal property in the house, $69,247 for repairs to the dwelling and an extended hotel stay “as written by American Farmers and Ranchers Insurance,” and $9,055 paid to Robinson Air and Plumbing for replacement of the home’s sewer service line. According to municipal records, the Wastewater Collection Division “received no calls from Shawn or Helen Donley, or any calls” about that address, on May 10, Assistant City Attorney Garrett Lam related. After Shawn Donley called on May 18 to report “a sewer surge in the house,” the Wastewater Collection Division responded and flushed the sewer line for 100 feet “and found no blockage” in the sewer main. An area representative of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality called Wastewater Collection Division Superintendent Glenn Hinton on June 10 to report that Donley had filed a complaint with the state agency. Hinton met with the DEQ representative at the Donley house and determined the service line, not the city’s sewer main, “was the problem.” Hinton lifted the cover off the manhole “to show that the city’s line was flowing.” Nothing more became of the complaint Donley filed with the DEQ. During his appearance before the council Tuesday night, Donley admitted he “fixed the line.” Sewer System Construction Superintendent John Santos placed a camera into the Donleys’ service line on July 14 and reported that “whoever replaced the line used rubber joints to connect different pipe segments together, causing an offset” that will “negatively affect the flow” of effluent in the line. Furthermore, “There was evidence that the line was replaced without a city inspection or permit, as confirmed with License and Permits Chief Inspector Dudley Teeter.” A northwest Oklahoma City resident whose sewer service line broke at the ‘saddle’ where it connected to the city’s sewer main was charged $11,000 for the repairs – which are not covered in a typical homeowner’s insurance policy. In addition, the contract employee who buried the line immediately after it was repaired was ordered to dig it up again after a city employee learned the repair job had not been inspected, as required by city code. City of Lawton officials told the council that there is “no history” of a blockage on the Donleys’ “actual pipe segment,” nor on the first, second, third, fourth or fifth sewer main segments below the Donley residence within the last three years. There also is no history on the first segment above the residence within the last three years. “None of these pipe segments has ever been on the Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Survey report for replacement,” Hinton said. But on Nov. 21, 2023, a plumber made a service call to the Donleys’ address and found a blockage at 60 and 90 feet in the service line. “They found the blockage to be hair, toilet paper, clear pebble and cigar wood tip,” and cleared the line, the city was told. “We dispute” the city’s conclusion that the service line was the cause of the May 10 sewage backup, Shawn Donley told the council Tuesday night. He and Helen Donley asked the city to conduct a thorough investigation of their complaint and whether the evidence supports the city’s conclusion, “before making a decision.” Also, if the City Council “isn’t willing to pay the entire amount, we ask you to approve a lesser amount that’s fair and appropriate.” The council denied the Donleys’ claim on a 7-0 vote.