SMU Dorm Closed After Sewer Line Rupture
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UNIVERSITY PARK (CBSDFW.COM) - A construction crew ruptured a sewer line on the SMU campus late Wednesday night. While no water or sewage was visible above the ground, the incident was bad enough to shut down a dorm building and a classroom building.
SMU closed the Virgina-Snyder Residence Commons at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Buses were called in to carry students from the dorms to nearby hotels, where they could stay while repairs are being made. Students with family or friends in the area have been asked to stay with them, if possible.
Nearly 250 students were impacted by the sewer line rupture.
Students on Wednesday night said that the message to evacuate came suddenly, and they have become a little fatigued by the construction around campus. "It's frustrating, because we thought this project was going to be done a while ago," said student Kaylyn Buckley. "Construction has just been a hassle in general."
The construction crew had been working on a new health and science building. The rupture happened right next to the Virginia-Snyder Residential Commons, and some students said they started smelling the odor when they moved in last week.
"There was point when our toilet in my room was bubbling for like 20 minutes," Haley Cook, a freshman at SMU, said. "Nothing bad, but it was loud and annoying. And I was just like, 'It's a matter of time before something happens.'"
A building next door, which was also closed after the rupture, includes a cafeteria and classrooms.
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Journalism students use those classrooms at the Umphrey Lee Center to produce an early morning newscast. The building opened again at 7:30 a.m. Thursday for classes to resume, but the cafeteria will stay closed. Students with meal plans have been asked to use other dining halls on campus.
"While the break in the sewer line likely occurred earlier, SMU became aware of the situation Wednesday," Kim Cobb, an SMU official, said .
Crews pumped sewage away from the area throughout Wednesday night, and plan to continue the process through Thursday. SMU officials are emailing students to let them know that the dorms will remain closed for another night. They expect the repairs to be completed by Friday morning.
