By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON - Neighbors of the Northampton Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Bridge Road sat down with nursing home officials Monday night to discuss what the facility is doing to correct the improper waste removal procedures that have them facing $10,000 in fines from the city.
The meeting, which was arranged by Ward 1 City Councilor Maureen Carney, drew about a dozen residents from Gleason Road, Jackson Street and Prospect Avenue to the community room at JFK Elementary School. All said they were concerned that the nursing home's improper disposal of sanitary napkins and other materials could lead to future backups.
James A. Lomastro, the center's administrator, and Richard Perry, director of environmental services, tried to alleviate the neighbors' concerns by promising to have a $71,000 "grinder system" installed at their sewer outflow location before the end of the fall.
Before the discussion, Ned Huntley, the city's director of public works, provided those in attendance with a step-by-step analysis describing when the problem at the nursing home was first noticed, the efforts have been made to correct it and plans for the installation of the new system.
According to Huntley, the city first noticed a problem with the nursing home's sewer system about five years ago, when several backups were blamed on employees and residents of the facility who were flushing sanitary wipes, adult diapers and other cleaning materials down the toilets. Twice since then, Huntley said, the city has found enough blockage in the sewer line to fine the nursing home $5,000.
Since the initial discovery, Lomastro said, the home has banned the use of the sanitary wipes that allegedly caused the backups and educated everyone who works and lives there about the proper way to dispose of adult diapers and other cleaning supplies.
"This is a major problem for us and one that we aren't taking lightly," Lomastro said, "but some of our residents have dementia and they are going to continue to flush things down the toilets that they shouldn't."
Despite the home's best efforts, Huntley said just three weeks ago DPW workers lifted the manhole cover on Gleason Road and Propect Avenue and found it clogged with a "basketball sized" mound of sanitary wipes and rags - and the $10,000 in fines have yet to be paid.
The neighbors urged Lomastro to install the grinder system before the winter. Huntley said he expects it to be installed before Christmas.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
Yuck!
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