50 metric tons of grease blockage removed from Richmond sewer

Metro Vancouver Regional District crews returned to Richmond overnight clearing more massive grease blockages from the sewer system.

In a post to social media Thursday, the district said 50 tons — more than the weight of the average humpback whale — of ‘fatbergs’ were recently removed from pipes.

Photos attached to the post show crews breaking boulder-sized clods and using hydrovac trucks to extract the build-ups of grease, fats, and oils.

In September, district crews closed Richmond roads for hours as they removed another fatberg, more than 70 cubic metres in size — the equivalent of seven dump trucks full.

Metro Vancouver is reminding residents to not put any type of grease or oil down the drain — instead, it says you should wipe it up and put it in your green bin.

“Metro Vancouver and its member jurisdictions spend $2.7 million every year to repair damage caused by fats, oils, and grease in the sewer system. And that’s not counting the costs to individual homeowners to fix clogged pipes,” the district’s website said.