8,000 Gallons Of Sewage Spew Into Austin Home

When 8,000 gallons of sewage spewed into a Texas home, health risks and a giant mess were just the beginning of the owners’ problems.

“Originally, it was a phone call that put a pit in a West Austin family’s stomach. Now, it’s their new reality, in the midst of a 7-month fight for help from the city for thousands of dollars in damage,” KXAN reported.

“Jennifer Skillman showed KXAN areas in her now former home, where sewage rose to 7-inches high. She says a remediation company supervisor she hired to help clean up the mess, told her in his 30 years of experience, the backup is among the top three worst he’s ever seen,” the report said.

The problem has cost the Skillmans about $60,000 out of pocket, while insurance chipped in $10,000, the report said, citing the family. That includes cleanup, demolition, repairs, four months in temporary housing, and the cost of items destroyed by the mess.

“I’m sad. I’m angry that no one is helping us,” Jennifer Skillman said, per the report. “They said they would help with the cleaning, but it’s only a small fraction. It’s about $2,000 that they gave us.”

“This is the first home we’ve ever bought,” Skillman added. “We were planning on doing this big house and having it for our main home and big renovation and making it personal to us and it is sad. I do kind of cry every time I come here.”

Part of the headache is dealing with the city of Austin.

“The Skillman family received a denial from the city to their claim, saying the city is not liable for the damages under Texas law,” the report said.

A city crew told the family rocks and grease in the sewage line are partly responsible, the report said, citing the family.

A city representative told KXAN in a statement: “We realize this aspect of Texas law may seem harsh to many. However, the legislation enables a city to achieve a balance between providing necessary and desirable services to its citizens and having the resources to do so. This could not be done if the City became an insurer, compensating for every harm that occurs within its limits. “

A similar, but less costly, incident two years ago brought sewage bubbling up through the bathtub in the Austin home of Alejandro Puyana, KXAN previously reported. He was ultimately reimbursed $1,100 for damages.

In that instance, a city crew “failed to reconnect his line to the main sewage line when they finished some repair work. Because of that, after KXAN’s investigation, city officials agreed to pay the homeowner,” the report said.

Austin is hardly the only city that deals with this problem. Earlier this year, a couple from New Rochelle, NY, began “raising a legal stink about hundreds of gallons of raw sewage they say was pumped into their Wilmot Road house by the city,” The Journal News reported.

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