Pueblo basement flooded after sewage leak
'My house is worth about half what it was a couple of months ago,' homeowner Ken Willard said.
Willard said crews were installing a fiber optic line in his neighborhood. In his mind, there was no need for concern.
'I really didn't think much about it, I knew what they were doing, they're doing it all over town,' Willard said.
But something changed when Willard said he began to smell sewage from his basement. Then one day, Willard returned from a trip and saw the unimaginable.
'I came down here and there was blackwater,' Willard said.
What Willard was seeing was black sewage in his basement bathroom. Willard then called plumbers as soon as possible. Once they arrived, the plumbers told Willard there was a bigger problem.
'They said this is eight feet of water in the sewer and it's not moving,' Willard explained.
Willard said he learned the crews working on the fiber optic line had drilled into one of the main sewer lines in his area, causing the flood and forcing Willard and his wife to leave the house for two weeks and live in a hotel.
'My wife was working from a hotel and with rheumatoid arthritis and a chair that's not designed for her, she's had pain ever since,' Willard said.
While the house is now livable again, Willard is still cleaning.
The restoration company Willard is working with is estimating it will take roughly $27,000 to repair his basement. But Willard is claiming the insurance companies who got involved will not foot the entire bill.
'I've already incurred cost of hotel and food that they refused to pay for,' Willard said. 'I've played $500 for a plumber to come out here and fix their problem that they won't pay for.'
Willard has even gone to the companies themselves to figure out what is going on.
'I talked to the owner of Prodigy Excavating who's the one responsible for this,' Willard said. 'He assured me on the phone that he was going to fix it. Now he's been instructed not to talk to me.'
FOX21 News reached out to a spokesperson from Prodigy Excavating over the phone on Friday, June 6. They told us the insurance company is still working with Willard. We also reached out to Congruex, who Willard claims were also involved, via email and have not heard back as of this writing.
For Willard, the fight is just beginning.
'I just want my basement fixed back,' Willard said. 'I'm not trying to get rich. I'm not trying to ruin anybody.'
Willard also believes there were other houses affected by the sewage leak. He added he is looking at potential legal options if the companies do not fully reimburse him for the damages.
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