Silt buildup leads officials to believe pipe damage has occurred

A group of engineers working in Merritt are worried about the amount of silt being discovered in the pipes below town. On Wednesday two dump trucks worth of debris was removed from the lines.

“While the pumps are still working, the amount of silt and debris, strongly implies there are cracks or breaks somewhere. We need to find and fix those. This is in no way a simple progress. We all want to make sure the engineers do it as safely and well as they can, and that will take time,” said EOC Communications Manager Greg Lowis.

With so many variables still in play, Lowis did not want to give a possible timeline for a return to Merritt.

“The river has changed it’s course, and we only found out of this new path when the waters receded,” added Lowis. “This complicated a lot of matters as the river divides the wastewater plant from the infiltration basins. There are pipes under there, there is hydro poles on the old road, there is the asphalt as well. It presents a number of problems for us and we’re just trying to get our heads around it.”

Crews have been investigating the system since late Tuesday with no timeline in place for completion of the inspections at this time.