A fatberg, or huge lump of congealed fats and debris, was discovered underneath Baltimore’s Penn Station earlier this month after 1.2 million gallons of sewage overflowed into the nearby Jones Falls Waterway.
Sewage overflows had become common after heavy rains in recent months, and a dry-weather overflow prompted officials to look inside the pipe with a camera, USA Today reported.
After discovering the fatberg, which left pipes in the vicinity about 85 percent clogged, the city scraped the glob off the 100-year-old pipe so that water and waste could flow better through it, The Baltimore Sun reported.
The waste was sent to a landfill, Fox News reported. When the pipes are completely cleaned, city officials will determine whether the pipe needs any repairs.
The public works department does have a FOG (fats, oils, grease) program that monitors food service businesses that discharge wastewater to ensure that they aren’t dumping FOG into the water system. Officials also encourage everyone not to flush “flushable” wipes, which can become trapped and add to the clog.
“The only items that should be considered flushable are poo, pee, and toilet paper,” the department said, USA Today reported.
Other big cities have recently dealt with even bigger fatbergs, including one in London that weighed 143 tons and was three football fields long. Removal of the London fatberg was expected to take weeks.
Twitter commenters were grossed out by the story.
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