sewer – The B Square

Overview map

Location of Marathon Station where gasoline leak originated.

Dillman Road wastewater treatment facility. The triangular shaped basin in the north corner of the map is the equalization basin.

Marathon Station at 3rd Street and Patterson Drive

If Bloomington residents smell gasoline inside their homes, they should ventilate the area by opening windows and avoid an open flame.

That’s the advice in a news release from the city of Bloomington issued in the early morning hours of Tuesday. According to the news release residents who have concerns can call (812) 269-6052.

Prompting the advice was a gasoline leak from the Marathon gas station at the southeast corner of 3rd Street and Patterson Drive.

Because the gasoline apparently made its way into the sanitary sewer system, the news release considered the possibility that gasoline fumes might intrude into people’s homes.

According to the news release, there is “currently no risk to residents and no cause for alarm.”

[Updated at 5:14 p.m. on Nov. 1, 2022: The Dillman Road wastewater treatment plant has been back online for a while now.] Continue reading “Fuel from Marathon station leaks into Bloomington’s sewers, officials work to get plant back online” →

On Tuesday, Bloomington filed seven separate lawsuits as part of its effort to complete the annexations of seven different territories into the city—one lawsuit for each annexation area.

All seven lawsuits appear to be essentially identical. They focus on the question of remonstrance waivers.

Such waivers are legal documents signed by a property owner giving up the right to remonstrate against annexation, in consideration of the ability to purchase sewer service from the city.

The city of Bloomington’s legal position is that any such waivers are valid, despite a 2019 law that invalidated all such waivers signed before July 1, 2003.

The lawsuits filed on Tuesday were expected. And their disposition will be decisive for the remonstrance efforts that were made in each of the seven areas.

The reason the status of the waivers is crucial is that they make the difference between completely successful and completely failed remonstrance efforts in some areas, based on the county auditor’s certified results. Continue reading “Bloomington launches salvo of lawsuits over remonstrance waivers, one for each area” →