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McKees Rocks residents demand answers after sewage builds up in homes

MCKEES ROCKS, Pa. — Residents in a McKees Rocks neighborhood are demanding answers after heavy rain Wednesday led to a sewage buildup in their homes.

MaryAnn Lubas told Channel 11 this is the third time sewage has built up in her basement over the last two years.

Lubas knows she isn't alone in dealing with a basement destroyed by flooding, but while most people over the last few days were dealing with water, Lubas' basement was covered in sewage.

"This is at least a foot or more and it's not just in the drain. It comes up through the tub and it's sewage waste, not just flood or rainwater," Lubas said.

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It's the third time in the last two years she's dealt with sewage in her basement, something that's gone from an expensive inconvenience to a health hazard.

"I have COPD and I'm on oxygen. Because of that it caused COPD aspiration and I ended up in the hospital because of it," Lubas said.

Lubas called 11 Investigates to get answers.

We went right to the McKees Rocks Borough engineer Doug Evans, who says it's a problem he's very familiar with.

"The low area of McKees Rocks has notoriously had problems with extra storm water and sewage," Evans said.

The borough recently applied for a grant to fix this issue on Gardner Street and several other nearby roads, which Evans hopes will bring long-term relief.

They're also working with Alcosan, which owns the nearby pump station.

Evans told 11 Investigates he's "very confident" the problem will be solved.

Several residents blamed Alcosan for the growing issues with sewage backup. An Alcosan spokesman told 11 Investigates the pump station worked as designed last week and it's completely monitored.

 

Cox Media Group

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