City Hall was closed for 2 1/2 hours Tuesday when sewage overflowed in a first-floor bathroom and flooded several offices and hallways.
When city employees arrived at the former armory on Lampkin Street Tuesday morning, they encountered raw sewage, Mayor Parker Wiseman said. A pump beneath a toilet malfunctioned, Wiseman said, which sent sewage flowing into the hallway outside the mayor”s office, a handful of other nearby offices and the main hallway in the center of City Hall. Sewage also seeped into the courtroom.
“It was quite a bit,” Wiseman said.
The Mississippi Department of Health was consulted by phone, Wiseman said, and the building was closed at noon as crews cleaned up the mess and disinfected floors, carpeting and walls. The mayor said the first floor was cleaned with a “pretty powerful disinfectant.”
“Once that was done, the safety issues had been eliminated and the building was safe from all contaminants,” Wiseman said.
City employees returned to work at 2:30 p.m. and fans were placed throughout the structure. Doors of the Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday evening were left open as the smell of the disinfectant filled the building.
The city has no plans to replace carpeting, Wiseman said.
“We”ve been assured that everything is now safe,” he said.
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