In a true one-in-a-million scenario, a Florida couple got the surprise of a lifetime after a lightning strike near their septic tank ignited methane and caused an explosion so significant it destroyed the toilet.
The homeowner, Marylou Ward, described it in an interview with WINK News as the loudest noise she’d ever heard. “We smelled smoke and I looked outside. It was the smoke from the septic tank that was coming."
The couple’s toilet was in pieces, and local plumber A-1 Affordable Plumbing informed them that lightning had ignited the methane built up in the pipes and septic tank. All told, the lightning strike destroyed the septic tank, the toilet and much of the plumbing in between. It also claimed a window and some yard decorations. Fortunately, Ward and her husband are OK.
The plumber shared the following post on Facebook about the incident:
In other news, a pumper from Hayward, California, who was cleared of charges related to alleged illegal grease disposal is now suing the city of Palo Alto for maliciously prosecuting him.
The pumper, Thomas Medeiros, is representing himself in the case. In the lawsuit, he claims city workers are investigating environmental crimes without proper training, alleging that the employees didn’t secure the scene, interview witnesses, preserve evidence or check his pumper truck to see if it contained grease.
Medeiros will officially stick it to the man in his opening brief in federal appeals court Sept. 16.
A Lake Charles, Louisiana, portable restroom tech was recently arrested in connection with two instances of illegal sewage waste discharge. The tech is accused of discharging portable restroom waste into a roadside ditch near Sulphur. The investigation was conducted by the Calcasieu County Sheriff’s Office and the Criminal Investigations Section of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
The technician was photographed at the scene by eyewitnesses discharging a slurry consistent with portable restroom tank waste from his vacuum truck. The investigation was launched after the eyewitnesses contacted authorities.
