Poplar Bluff announced plans to close off its unsanitary sewer bypasses in 1974. The system kept sewer lines from being overwhelmed by rainwater and backing up into homes, but accomplished this by flushing waste into open ditches instead. In other years, communities reckoned with tragedies: a train accident in 1924 and a drowning in 1949.
100 years ago
Aug. 29, 1924
• The surviving members of two families filed massive damage suits today against the Missouri Pacific Railroad.
On Aug. 12, four people were killed when Missouri Pacific Train No. 2 struck a car at a crossing in Harviell. The victims were Lilliam Odom, her children Henrietta and Hoover Jr., and her young nephew Herman Ellis. Hoover Odom is seeking $30,000 for the deaths of his wife and two children, plus $1,000 for his totaled car. Mr. and Mrs. K.L. Ellis seek $10,000 for their son.
The plaintiffs emphasized the crossing’s limited field of view and the train’s speed in their petitions. The oncoming train was allegedly blocked from sight by nearby buildings, freight cars on the track, and stacks of ties. Additionally, they charge the train’s speed violated Harviell’s limit of 8 mph, and Train No. 2 didn’t sound its whistle or ring its bell as it approached the crossing.
75 years ago
Aug. 29, 1949
• A Poplar Bluff man drowned in the Black River yesterday afternoon while trying to rescue his beloved dog.
Witnesses said Frederick Lee “Holt” Warren, a plumber, was sitting near a railway bridge and tossing sticks in the water for his dog, Bubbles, to retrieve. On the fourth trip out, Bubbles began struggling. Warren jumped in after him and disappeared underwater about 20 feet from shore. Police and firefighters recovered Warren’s body and attempted resuscitation for almost an hour, to no avail.
Warren was 41 and is survived by his mother and brother. There was no report on Bubbles’ whereabouts.
50 years ago
Aug. 29, 1974
• Poplar Bluff has been ordered to correct a crappy situation: sewer bypasses. These pipes keep sewage from overflowing into homes during excessive rainfall, but extend directly from manholes to open ditches where the sewage collects. It inevitably ends up in local waterways or dries on the surface of the ground.
Cecil Johnson of the city’s light and water-sewer departments said the bypasses were “the lesser of two evils” given Poplar Bluff’s terrain and the shortcomings of its old waste system.
“Most of our sewer service was rebuilt in 1960-61 when federal law required us to quit putting sewage into Black River. The old system leaks badly and storm water gets into it and overloads it,” he explained, and waste with nowhere else to go backs up into residences. Compounding the problem, the Poplar Bluff’s topography means sewage must be pumped over hills, and all 12 pumps have been overwhelmed during excessive rains.
Johnson confirmed a plan to close the bypasses is almost ready to be presented to the Missouri Clean Water Commission. An Environmental Protection Agency grant will fund line inspections to seal leaks where rainwater enters the pipes, as well as additional pumps to increase system capacity.