Pumping out the plaza 3/29/01
By Rebecca Piro
Andover Townsman
Stefanie and David Brutsch of North Main Street watched the waters rise Friday, packed up what wasn't already wet, and closed the door to their house behind them. The Shawsheen River was spilling over its banks and up both their front and back steps.
"That's one of the areas that is historically a problem in my 20 years," says Officer Bob Cronin, of the area near Shawsheen Plaza."I can think of two or theee other instances that it was flooded out"
Across the street from the Brutsches' home workers were pumping water out of a sewer and into the river, to relieve water pressure and keep the water from spilling further into the street and people's homes. Nevertheless, by Friday night, the parking lot in front of Market Basket was awash.
It is because of such water problems that some residents have opposed further development in the area, fearful that new development
in the area, and new homes elsewhere hooking into the sewer line that runs under North Main Street would cause additional problems.
Andover plans to increase the sewer flow downtown by breaking ground on a $30 million sewer system that will tack on hundreds of households to the current pipeline.
Until last year, town officials insisted that the main sewer pipe already in the ground could handle the added capacity created by 250 households being added to the sewer system. Many residents disagreed, pointing to an incident last summer when the pipe overflowed - an incident that Public Works Director Jack Petkus attributed to vandalism.
The state approved the sewer project, but required Andover to expand the pipe's capacity by installing a second pipe. The question is: will that solve the problem?
"I don't have a crystal ball, but according to the numbers, it appears to be adequate," says Petkus. But even a bigger pipe could overflow in a situation like last week's, he adds. "Nobody could have forecasted that."
Despite the flood's devastation on several homes, Health Director Everett Penney is also optimistic about the sewer project. A bigger line will reuce the amount of sewerage that ends up in the river in flood emergencies, he says. Friday and Saturday workers spent hours furiously pumping raw sewage out of a manhole in Shawsheen Plaza and into the Shawsheen River, trying to reduce the water pressure underground. "It either goes there or it backs up into people's houses," Penney says.
Can area take a Powder?
Last year the town also approved Powder Mill Square - a project for up to 72 housing units - right in the midst of the Shawsheen flood plain. Some homeowners believe this will only exacerbate the flooding problem.
"There's 10 of us (neighbors being evacuated) right now," said Stefanie Brutsch, who returned to her house later that Friday with her husband. They pulled all their cookware out of the bottom kitchen cabinets and moved the heavy furniture upstairs. The water reached the top step of their basement, inches below the living-room floor boards.
Both said were unable to imagine the scene if Powder Mill Square had been constructed and filled with families. "What about when it's 72 (families)?"
"Based on what we've gone through this week... that project should not (happen)," agrees Cyr Circle resident Mary Carbone.
But Powder Mill Square developer Louis Minicucci says that the storm and flooding reassured him of the project's merits.
"What you saw over the weekend is what we anticipated, what we planned for," says
Minicucci. "From a purely engineering standpoint' it works extremely well."
Engineers for the project surveyed the site Friday, says Minicucci. According to the project plans, about six inches of water would have flooded the first level, which would be a parking garage, had the buildings already been in existence. The first level will be constructed to flood in situations like Friday's, says Minicucci. The housing units will be over 20 feet above the ground.
"In order for the residential units to ever experience water, flood conditions would have to be close to that of a Noah's Ark time," he says.
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