By Meghan McPhillips-Jones

One Lunenburg residence stands in the way of the Sewer Commission permanently closing a decrepit clay pipe in the Whalom area by the Leominster city line. The Sewer Commission has been working to close that pipe for almost six months.

    “We sent out letters to the [less than 10] residents that they had to hook up to sewer by November 1. We sent out a second letter as well,” said Sewer Commission Chairman Bob Ebersole. “All of the residents have either already hooked up, or have worked with us in some way except for one.”

    The clay pipe that the town is trying to permanently close is tied to the old Leominster sewer and attached to a central manhole. The water that flows into the sewer from this pipe was determined to be a problem when Lunenburg was working with Weston and Sampson to find leaks in the system.

    DPW Director Jack Rodriquenz said that recent inspections of the clay piping revealed the irreparable extent of its decay.

    “You had asked us to put a camera in that line, and to try to view each leg of the pipe. We did that with limited success,” he said. “Upon inspection its clear what’s happening: the piping is separated, and the tree roots are coming through. The joints are separated so that water is literally pouring into that manhole from several areas.”

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