A loud “boom” rumbled through a Brewer neighborhood Saturday, when part of a sewer pump house mysteriously exploded, city officials said.
Sewer district officials are still trying to determine what caused the explosion in the pump house near South Brewer Drive, which caused severe damage to the equipment that pumps raw sewage from a collection site to the wastewater treatment plant, environmental department director Ken Locke said. None of the city’s other 13 pump houses were affected, he said.
The blast occurred around noon, destroying the electric control panels and some of the exterior fiberglass housing around the pump, Locke said. Sewer workers were able to get the pump back up and running by 4 p.m., he said, but the district needs to run it manually until workers can fix the onsite controls.
It’s possible that vapors from a flammable liquid introduced to the sewer system caused the explosion, police Chief Jason Moffitt said. Police are not investigating the blast as intentional.
The eruption caused a loud boom that echoed through the wooded neighborhood, nearby South Main Street and the Penobscot River. “Our treatment plant operator heard the explosion from several hundred feet away,” Locke said.
He is unsure how much repairs will cost, but electricians will spend the beginning of the week figuring out what needs to be replaced and whether the explosion affected any of the area piping, he said.
Brewer police are asking anyone with information about recent spills of flammable liquids — such as gasoline — that might have entered the sewer system through a floor drain or other method to call the department at 207-989-7001.
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