Cameras in the Sewer Pipes

A lot of folks thought maybe the City Council had been out in the sun too long when it up and out of a clear blue sky voted to ban garbage disposals.

Well, it turns out taking on the housewives of Raleigh is a lot tougher assignment then vilifying developers. The ladies of Raleigh have routed Mayor Meeker and company and it doesn’t look like the garbage disposal ban will survive another council meeting.

Besides saying something about the loop-the-loop mentality of several council members, the recent hearing (yes, that’s right, a hearing) on garbage disposals brought city utilities director Dale Crisp to the public’s attention.

Now, Mr. Crisp may be an eminently reasonable man. But he didn’t exactly cover himself with glory.

First, arguing for the ban he plopped glass jars filled with crud – taken from sewer pipes – on the table and said, See, this is what garbage disposals do.

Councilman Thomas Crowder, who voted for the ban but has since had a road of Damascus type conversion, asked Crisp what scientific data he had to back up his statement.

Crisp’s answer: None.

But the jars weren’t Crisp’s only proof.

The city utilities director also played video footage he acquired by putting a tiny camera in the sewer pipes.

Now, think about that. It’s nuttier than the ban.

Mr. Crisp went to the expense of putting a video camera in the sewage system to film waste (he admits he has no proof is from disposals), showed it to the council and said, See. There it is. Keep the ban.

Now, why on earth would the City Council go along with wasting money on putting a TV camera in the sewage pipes? Or, for that matter, why would Crisp think that was the best use he could make of taxpayers dollars.

Part of me is curious to know just how much that little experiment cost. But, on the other hand, maybe we know too much already.

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