Shawnee woman frustrated with blocked sewer line

SHAWNEE, Okla. (KFOR) — A Shawnee woman's yard is filled with raw sewage and believes the city is to blame, but they say they aren't.

The homeowner told News 4 that back in July, the city repaired a water main break in front of her home.

During the process, her water meter was damaged and the sewer line collapsed.

The city replaced the water meter and fixed the collapsed line, however it happened again and she is without sewage.

"I have to go down to my office and use the facilities down there to try to keep here sanitary, as possible because there's cats, my neighbors have cats and there's dogs and I don't want them in the raw sewage," said Darla Lorance, homeowner without sewage.

Lorance says she cleaned the sewage inside the house, but now it goes into her yard.

She is waiting for the city to fix the problem, but they told her to hire her own plumber, which she did out of frustration over Labor Day weekend.

He found a problem that he says he can't fix.

"When we did our snake, it actually brought back red dirt, so we know that there's a break in the middle of the street. We measured it, it was 75 feet and we know it's in the center of the street, so we told them that," said Lorance.

Despite this, the public works department claims Darla is responsible for fixing utilities under the street.

"I don't have the wherewithal to rip up the street and neither does my plumber," said Lorance.

Darla's plumber says she is not responsible.

"They have a 15 foot right way from the center of the road to my understanding, we're not allowed to go any further in because that is on city property. The city has to take care of that, it is not fair to this homeowner," said her plumber.

News 4 stopped by the public works department and couldn't find anyone to talk to, so we left emails and voicemails.

The City of Shawnee sent a statement later on Thursday afternoon.

On Tuesday, September 3, 2024, City staff was alerted to a potential sewer blockage in the 900 block of North Patchin Avenue. City staff was dispatched to check the wastewater main to ensure that no blockage in the City-owned sewer line had occurred. It was confirmed that the line was flowing freely.

The reporting party was subsequently notified that a potential issue in their private sewer line could be the cause. As it was claimed by the reporting party that the issue may have been initiated by a July 2024 repair within the City’s right-of-way, the property owner was also advised to file a tort claim for the cost of a licensed plumber, if evidence of prior repair damage could be demonstrated.

At this time, the City has performed its due diligence, and the matter now lies with the property
owner.

City of Shawnee

Lorance says she is baffled because her plumber would need to tear up a city street to deal with the sewer line.

News 4 will follow up with the homeowner for her next steps.