Tulsa County, Plumbing Firm Blame Each Other For Flooding

The Tulsa County Courthouse flooding cleanup might be at the expense of taxpayers, or a plumbing firm that was recently working in the basement.

Monday, September 15th 2014, 7:50 pm



The Tulsa County Courthouse flooding cleanup might be at the expense of taxpayers, or a plumbing firm that was recently working in the basement.

The county is pointing the finger at the plumbers, but the company isn't accepting the blame.

According to county emails, two weeks before the flooding plumbers worked on the pipe that failed. The county is blaming the new work, but the plumbers blame the county for poor maintenance which allowed the pipe to clog up.

The basement level of the courthouse remains closed while it's being cleaned up. Workers have spent two solid weeks on the job removing water, then hauling out everything that got wet, or might be in the way of repairs.

9/9/2014 Related Story: Tulsa County Jury Trials Canceled For September

The county commissioners declared an emergency Monday to start paying the bills, while behind the scenes there's a dispute over who is responsible for the cost of the damage.

County emails blame McIntosh Services, the county's plumbing contractor, but the company isn't accepting liability and blames the county for not maintaining the drain from the roof.

Pipe Diagram

The drain pipe that ruptured carries water from the roof down through the basement to the storm sewer.

The plumbing company believes the county didn't maintain screens that block roof debris from getting into the lines.

The county is, at this point, confident in their maintenance.

"We're not going to get into a blame game in the media, but the drain had worked for 60 years before that without much of an issue, so that's all I can say about that,” said Michael Willis, with Tulsa County.

The pipe that caused the problem carries water down eight floors to the bottom of the building.

The plumbers were working recently near the section where the blowout happened in the basement.

After the flood, they found a clog 50 feet down the pipe from the repair. The clog allowed the pressure to build until the pipe came apart.

Insurance companies will work out who is to blame, but if taxpayers foot the bill, the deductible is high.

"We do have insurance on something like this and we would be capped at $100,000 exposure, so the most the county has to pay out on this is $100,000,” Willis said.

The cost of the water damage hasn't been added up and that won't include the cost of delays to the court system; all jury trials were delayed for the month.

Downstairs, the tear-out is done, now they're cleaning everything and testing the air to make sure it's ok to start repairs. 

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