The Capped Sanitary Sewer Line at UWGB, Who’s Problem is it?

It’s been a little over a month and both Aurora and the City of Marinette have taken no action to resolve the problem they’ve created by capping the shared sanitary sewer line at the UWGB – Marinette Campus. In an email obtained by Bay Cities Radio from Marinette County Administrator John Lefebvre dated June 21st, he says, “the bottom line is the parties responsible for disconnecting and capping the sanitary sewer line are not willing to take the lead on fixing the problem.” The WDNR is aware of the situation and has requested that one of the parties formally report the situation as a spill. However, as of Monday, June 12th, the University of Wisconsin System and the UWGB Chancellor decided to prevent any further wastewater from traveling through the sanitary sewer onto the Aurora property until it could be verified that the effluent is reaching the City Sanitary Sewer located on Shore Drive. While the City of Marinette and Aurora have no interest in reconnecting the sanitary sewer line to the City Sanitary Sewer main on Shore Drive either temporarily or permanently and if they would agree to this reconnection; the WDNR would likely require the entire line to be televised to confirm the integrity of the piping and manholes and fix any areas of concern. Currently, the county’s plan is to locate a gravity drain sanitary sewer on the County UWFB Marinette Campus property behind the Administrative Building in the wooded areas. A 25-foot corridor for the new sanitary sewer line and required manholes will be constructed. According to Lefebvre, they are looking into an alternative solution which would involve pumping the wastewater into the City Sanitary Sewer system.