Child falls in septic hole

Allentown child escapes injury; family warns town of dangers.

By: Lauren Burgoon
   ALLENTOWN — Five seconds — that’s how long Gerri Carter turned away from her children to pick up something on her backyard lawn. And that’s how quickly her 2-year-old son plunged down an abandoned septic tank hole that she didn’t know existed until last week’s accident.
   When Ms. Carter stood up, her son, James, was nowhere to be found. Calling out repeatedly to him, she didn’t hear a sound from her son. It wasn’t until James’ twin sister, Katie, came running over yelling and pointing that Ms. Carter found her son — 6 feet underground and up to his neck in mud, water and leaves in a septic tank hole.
   Fortunately, James is OK, but Ms. Carter is still shaken that this could happen to her family. No one is to blame, she said, but she wants to use the experience to warn other Allentown families about what could happen in their own back yards.
   "Someone needs to warn homeowners about this. People think they’re safe in their back yards and they may not be," Ms. Carter said.
   The family’s ordeal began in the late afternoon of April 12. It was a nice day and Ms. Carter and the twins were playing in the back yard. The family had no idea their home had an unfilled septic tank hole. James just happened to be standing over the hole when the ground gave out and he fell though the 10-inch diameter hole.
   James was so far underground that his screams could not be heard above ground across the yard. When Ms. Carter got closer she could see that her son was terrified and screaming loudly, but he was too far down for her to pull him out. More stones and debris would fall on top of James every time she approached the hole.
   Ms. Carter sprang into action, calling 911, and emergency responders raced to her home, especially after recognizing the North Main Street address — Ms. Carter’s husband Brad is a chief at Hope Fire Company. The emergency crews tried to widen the hole, but more debris was falling around James and giving out under the adults’ weight. Ms. Carter feared pieces of the concrete cap that covered that hole would hit her son’s head.
   Finally, James stuck his arm up far enough for his mom to grab it and pull him out.
   The crews later determined that a 3-inch thick concrete cap used to cover the septic tank hole had deteriorated over the years. Although only 31 pounds, James’ weight was too much for the broken cap and layer of earth to support.
   Afterwards Ms. Carter spent time asking "what if?" What if it had rained the night before and the hole’s water level was even higher than James’ neck? What if Katie, a full head shorter than James, had fallen in instead?
   "It’s a scary thing. Homeowners need to be aware of this. We should have the choice of filling the holes so another child doesn’t have to go through this," Ms. Carter said. "Everyone should be warned so they can fill the holes themselves. If our cap broke it can happen to anyone."
   One scary aspect of the Carters’ story is that the family had no idea a septic tank hole was even in their back yard. The Carters weren’t informed about the site when they moved into the house one year ago, although that’s not necessarily unusual — the family lived in a different house in Allentown for a decade without ever knowing if there was an abandoned hole there. The important thing, Ms. Carter said, is for everyone to find out now.
   Allentown created a public sewer system in the 1950s, but before then homeowners were privately responsible for their waste. That is part of the reason that no map marking old septic sites exists, Mayor Stu Fierstein explained.
   Since homes were required to close their private systems to hook into the public sewer, it is reasonable to assume that any home predating the sewer system will have an abandoned septic tank site. Whether that site is filled in or just capped and covered could vary by property.
   The Carters’ experience "is something concerning even though it’s not the fault of the borough or the system. I’m just very glad the child is OK," Mayor Fierstein said Tuesday.
   He is putting Allentown’s code enforcement officer on the case to find out what other homeowners can do and what firms can help them prevent a similar accident. All of the information will be included in the borough’s next periodic newsletter, scheduled to be sent out to residents in May or June.
   Realtors have a responsibility to disclose sites of known septic holes when selling properties, Mayor Fierstein added.
   The Carters have already filled their hole with dirt and the children are back outside playing. But Ms. Carter fears there could be another hole somewhere. She just doesn’t want to find it the hard way.
   "Everyone needs to be very careful," she said. "I just want people to realize what could happen in their own back yard."