Colon family in exploding toilet ordeal

Ay caramba!

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 1st March 2006 11:18 GMT

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A family from Charlotte, North Carolina, is currently engaged in a stand-off with the local utilities company over who is responsible for cleaning up the aftermath of a toilet explosion which has forced them from their home.

Mum Marilyn Colon told local news outfit WCNC.com: "We heard a thump. Feces, urine, oil… …it went all through the house. You couldn't breathe, your eyes would tear."

Colon and her landlord called in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities (CMUD) which, although it is not obliged to clean up after such disasters, did so anyway. In the process, it discovered that the blockage which provoked the explosion was in turn caused by the neighbours pouring grease down the drain - something which Colon says should have been dealt with by CMUD.

CMUD disagrees, and Colon and her six-year-old daughter are currently staying with neighbours while ther two sides try and agree who is responsible for putting the mess right.

WCNC.com has more on the outrage here, including a lively TV news report featuring a distraught Colon recounting her ordeal. And in case you're wondering how Colon* is pronounced over there in North Carolina, think Cologne. ®