Somewhere in Doug McAtee’s Pumper Bible there ought to be a commandment that reads, "Thou shalt not secretly spray raw sewage on thy neighbor’s land." Those are the kinds of biblical principles we need in the industry to prevent stories like this one out of Prince Edward Island, where a septic pumping business owner was sentenced to four months in jail and must pay more than $10,000 in damages for dumping sewage in his neighbor’s field.
Winston Sentner pleaded guilty last fall for trespassing and damage to private property after investigators installed hidden cameras around the field in question. The landowner had complained about someone dumping sewage on his property.
Footage showed Sentner exiting his pumper truck Oct. 11, 2017 and emptying its contents on the field before driving away.
In the sentencing, Judge Nancy Orr said “in a province where agriculture is a primary industry, it is beyond comprehension to think that anybody would ever contemplate there could be no issues with spreading raw human sewage on agricultural land,” according to CBC News.
This next tale of heroism originates in China, where two boys found themselves stuck in a septic tank 30 feet underground. A 1-year-old fell through the tiny 7.8-inch opening first, and then villagers sent an 8-year-old into the tank in a failed attempt to rescue the toddler.
Footage released by Xinhua Video later captured an amazing rescue operation in which a local fire department sends its skinniest man through the small opening to save the boys, who are both in stable condition now.
It’s worth visiting the Daily Mail to see the video and photos from the rescue operation. That is one tiny septic opening.
There’s likely going to be some septic tank and water infrastructure issues in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan after a catastrophic flash flooding event washed out roads and flooded Menominee County and the Houghton-Hancock area.
Unfortunately for homeowners in the area, floods aren’t typically covered in basic homeowner insurance policies, and they’d probably have to opt for additional water-related coverage to pay for damage to backed up sewer and septic tank lines.
You can see photos and videos of the damage here.
