Schools

Clogged Pipe Cause of High School's Early Dismissal

Hillsborough High students were dismissed early last week because of a clogged pipe in the school's science wing.

A blockage in a pipe to ’s acid neutralization tank led to Thursday's early dismissal at the school, though RotoRouter cleared the clog later the same day.

Classes have returned to normal at the school, with the students attending classes in the portion of the school where the pipes were clogged.

School officials weren’t sure what caused the blockage, which occurred in the school’s science wing. The pipes that clogged are used to dispose of waste from the school’s chemistry classes—causing an unpleasant odor in the surrounding classrooms, according to District Superintendent Jorden Schiff.

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“These things are not that uncommon if you have a clog in there,” Schiff said. “But the smell wasn’t going to be conducive to the kids eating lunch or the kids who were in those classrooms.”

“I was concerned that it wasn’t conducive to a learning environment—that’s putting it mildly,” he added. “Even though it was remediated late that afternoon and early the next evening, it was the right call to get the kids out.”

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As a result the school dismissed at noon, Schiff said. Since school was in session for enough of the day, the school did not need to use a snow day to compensate for the early dismissal.

RotoRouter, which handles the district’s plumbing issues, was on scene during the initial incident, as was the district’s Buildings and Grounds crew. The township’s health inspector was also on site during the incident.

“RotoRouter put positive pressure to jettison the blockage, and then put a camera down to scope and ensure it’s cleared,” Schiff said. “The blockage goes further down the system, and, for our purposes, does not block the flow.

Work on remediating the residual tank odor occurred Monday evening, and involved venting the tank and adding a neutralizing substance to it, Schiff said. RotoRouter handled that work as well, he said.

Scoping the pipe—sending the camera down to ensure the clog was cleared—confirmed that there was no structural damage to the pipe or tank, Schiff added.


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