Porta-Potties To Be Placed Temporarily For Use In Downtown Glennallen As Sewage Leaks Out Into Floodwaters

Raw Sewage Coming Out Of Manholes 

Electrical Panels Had To Be Turned Off Due To Flooding 

Please Stop Using The Sewer 

A month ago, in mid-April, volunteers went out to fill sandbags with sand in anticipation of Moose Creek overflowing this spring. It was the second year in a row that massive snowfall had covered the Copper Valley. Last year, the flooding at Moose Creek was so bad that the Governor declared a state of emergency.

This year the snowfall was even worse than last year. And the flooding's worse, too. So today, May 14th, 2023, the Governor again declared a state of emergency.

David Lee, of the state office of emergency services, showed up on Sunday to meet with the board of the Glennallen Improvement Corporation. His main interest was individual primary residences on the sewer line, and how many homes were affected.

This is not a town, city or borough, so tax records of sewer hookups are not formally recorded, and nobody is quite sure who exactly is hooked up to the sewer. The group identified around 18 private homes in Glennallen affected by the flooding behind the IGA, Wells Fargo and the power company, reports Bruce Cain. 

By afternoon, Moose Creek was roaring again, reported Bruce Cain, who is on the organization's board.

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In a rundown of what's going on as of May 14th, Bruce Cain explained: 

"The big ticket item is we had to shut the sewer system off. The 440-volt panels can’t be run in the water. They’re turned off, and so far, Lonz (Saavedra) said there’s no visible damage yet. But we don’t know until the water goes on and we turn it back on. We’re notifying the users in the system to not use the sewer because it’s not operational right now. And we’re trying to get some outhouses distributed around." 

Cain added: "The sewer system isn’t working, so sewage is coming out of into the environment. It’s coming out of a couple of manholes where the low spots are. People have got to quit using the system until we get the pumps going again. As soon as we turned the pumps off, the pumps stopped pumping into the lagoon. The less people can use it the better. Hopefully it won’t be too much time. In five days maybe we can turn the pumps back on. But right now we can’t. There’ s not much we can do."

People have tried. A month ago, at a community event, they filled 1,000 sandbags. Then, Tazlina Village filled 400 more. The sandbags have been used to divert water and creeks and to sandbag buildings and are along the Glenn Highway near Glennallen.  

Said Bruce Cain: "People have been using them to divert water and creeks and sandbag buildings… If you want some, just go get them. There’s no sandbag captain. Mike Trimmer of State Forestry is the informal sandbag captain.”