Clairmont woman calls for better winter road maintenance after three-week sewage removal wait

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A resident of the Clairmont Subdivision is facing issues with sewage removal around the ungraded roads in the area after recent heavy snowfall. 

Lisa Plemel, a resident of the rural residential area just outside of Fort St. John, said until yesterday (December 30th), she had not had her sewage removed on 273 Road for nine weeks – three weeks longer than usual. 

The street is not graded, which means it is unpaved or gravel. 

She told Energeticcity.ca last week: “My sewer guy says he can’t get down that road to empty his tanks.” 

Joseph Brent, a driver who removes sewage for Plemel, said: “Thursday the 18th [December], we got a big snow blow out here [Clairmont Subdivision]. 

“Sewage is supposed to be an essential service and that is actually a bus route, but they didn’t plow it out until the following Monday [December 22nd].”

Brent told Energeticcity.ca the issue is caused by a lack of road maintenance, which makes using the road difficult. 

He said he believes colleagues are also facing similar issues, but Energeticcity.ca was not able to verify this claim. 

Plemel said: “The province hired Dawson Road Maintenance to do this, but I got a hold of Dawson Road and they said, ‘we’ll pass it along.’”

Energeticcity.ca got in touch with Dawson Road Maintenance, which deferred comment to the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Transit, which in turn did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. 

Plemel said people were trying to get their sewers emptied before Christmas because many were having guests over.

She shared: “If we can’t get it emptied and the sewer overflows, a lot of people are going to be dumping into the ditches.

“…They [Dawson Road Maintenance] need to get going on this, it’s a priority.

“If they can’t do the basic stuff like this, they should not have the contract.”

Plemel said her sewers were finally emptied on December 30th.