Orange Police Investigating Extensive Illegal Dumping Into the Town's Sewer System

Shared by the Orange Police Department

The Orange Police are looking for the public’s assistance.

There appears to be illegal discharges of grease associated with food service establishments (restaurants) entering the Town of Orange sanitary sewerage system. The Orange sewer system serves primarily commercial establishments along the Boston Post Road corridor.

There are several companies that pump grease out of mandated, below grade, grease traps for restaurants that is then to be hauled away by the pumper to a facility for processing.

Sewer Superintendant R. Scott Allen speculates that to save disposal costs, a hauler is discharging their truck somewhere along the Boston Post Road corridor into the Town’s sewage system via a manhole, which then flows to the Town’s main pumping station near Orange Center Road.

The grease severely impacts the ability of the pump station to function properly. The grease must be pumped out of the pump station, at great expense, in order for the pump station to function as designed. This cleaning process has been occurring almost weekly for the past several months due to the illegal dumping.

The scope of where these discharges are occurring is quite large (any point from 500 Boston Post Road and going East on the Boston Post Road all the way to the West Haven boundary). There are hundreds of manholes along that route.

The dumping appears to occur mostly Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but it is unknown if the discharges are occurring during the day or the night time. There is also, at this point, no way of knowing if the grease was generated from Orange or if it is coming from another location.

Orange Police are asking the public to directly report any tank style truck parked along the commercial properties on the Boston Post Road to 203-891-2130. Officers will attempt to identify the trucks’ operators and determine if they are legitimately accessing the sewer system and will forward that information to Mr. Allen. Officers are only interested in these trucks if they are parking in a commercial parking lot.

Photos:Typical pump style truck which may be involved: