Milwaukee floods, clogged sewer pipe investigation underway

MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District said contractors have unclogged a sewer overflow pipe on Jones Island. Now, it's trying to determine if that clog contributed to flooding that happened in Bay View in April and last summer.

What they're saying:

MMSD said it first discovered the clog in 2024 while preparing for a separate project on Jones Island. The issue made it onto MMSD's list of projects, but staff did not elevate it to "emergency status" until after massive flooding this April.

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That's when an employee noticed the data coming from the pipe did not line up with other parts in the system. MMSD contracted Michels over the past month to dig through 14 feet of dirt, cut open the pipe and clear the debris.

Patrick Obenauf, MMSD manager of contract compliance, had this message for property owners in Bay View who have dealt with two rounds of flooding in less than one calendar year.

"As soon as we knew it was a problem, we elevated it to emergency and have been working on it nonstop," said Patrick Obenauf, MMSD manager of contract compliance. "We're trying to fix the problem, but we certainly recognize that they've been impacted heavily by those last two rain events. And we're, you know, we're working with the city to alleviate those impacts and do what we can do."

FOX6's full interview with Obenauf is available at the top of this story.

What's next:

MMSD said it will still be weeks before it knows whether the clog contributed to flooded homes and businesses in Bay View. The district does not have monitors all throughout its system. Instead, it will use real storm data and computer modeling to see how far the water would have been backed up.