According to City Manager Rob Duke the grease trap at Susan's Place filled up and overflowed this weekend. This had happened once before just before Thanksgiving so when it overflowed again, the owner of the popular restaurant thought it was related.

She called out Sweet Pea Septic and Sewer service and a root blockage on the common sewer line near Sutter Creek was discovered.  The City of Sutter Creek also responded with a crew but realizing that time was of the essence, the city personnel on scene immediately hired Sweet Pea to start pumping the effluent that was spilling from the line. Apparently, the spill occurred after an exploratory hole was drilled in the pipe by Sweet Pea. 

The city crews also requested and authorized the pumping of the contents out of the line and cleared the roots.  The spill was considered very minor with only an estimated total of five gallons that spilled onto the bank of Sutter Creek. That approximately five gallons was immediately pumped up.  The City will be scheduling a job to replace that line between the creek and Susan's Place also adding a few manholes to make it easier to inspect.  Above Susan's the line is in a 5 foot or smaller prescriptive right of way and won't be easy to replace.  Once the city has the manholes in place the rest of line will be inspected and see what needs to be done, if anything, higher up on the line.

The City of Sutter Creek has been working toward sewer line replacement for many years in a proactive manner, having already replaced the majority of the city’s aged main sewer lines.