A sewage backup flooded two of the Clark pit bathrooms and partially spilled into the hallway on Tuesday, Feb. 15. The backup appeared to have been cleared, the sewage flooding removed and the bathrooms cleaned by the afternoon.

“Two bathrooms across from my room had sewage, inside of the bathroom, and a bit outside in the hallway,” said Oshi Ramos-McCormick `24. “The custodian… was trying to clean them up, and there are signs that we’re not allowed to go in. And it smelled really bad.”

Rick Whitney, associate vice president of facilities management, confirmed the flooding in an email to the S&B. “The Northernmost restroom and adjacent restroom were flooded with a little spilling into the hallway,” he wrote. “The custodial closet next to the restrooms backed up as well but was contained within the floor sink.” 

“Everyone in the hallway had put towels outside their door, like on the bottom so that their rooms wouldn’t smell like sewage,” said Ramos-McCormick.

In addition to the flooding, some students also reported seeing cockroaches near the sewage. According to one resident, “there were roaches in [the bathroom] so I had to put a blanket under my door. They were crawling all over the ceiling and stuff.” Whitney confirmed the presence of cockroaches in the Clark pit and wrote that “Cockroaches did appear on the walls and ceiling and were exterminated/removed.” He also said that an exterminator will follow up over the next few days. 

According to Whitney, Campus Safety first contacted the on-call mechanic at 9 p.m. on Feb. 14 and by approximately 10:45 a.m. on Feb. 15, the pipe obstruction was cleared. The affected areas were sanitized and bathrooms reopened by around 1 p.m. that same day.