Exclusive | New details emerge as crews clear sewer pipe blockage

Crews have cleared a clogged sewer pipe under Jones Island in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood, and new details are emerging about what caused the blockage and when it formed. On July 16, Michels Corporation workers removed sticks, muck, and plastic trash from a dual box-culvert sewer beneath South Carferry Road. Each concrete box measured about 6.5 by 7.5 feet, and prosecutors said the debris filled the system with roughly 20 truckloads, about 15 cubic yards per load, creating a 420-foot clog about half a mile from the discharge point into Lake Michigan. The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District said it will take weeks to determine whether the obstruction contributed to flooding. MMSD first learned about the debris in September 2024 during work on a new pollution storage facility for PCB-laden sediment. The length was reportedly an uninspected choke point, and an investigation is ongoing.