By Richard Kerns
rkerns@newstribune.info
tribune staff writer

KEYSER —  Mineral County School officials hope to have Keyser Primary-Middle School up and running as normal this morning, after the school was shut down at noon Monday following a sewer-line backup.
Danny Adams, assistant director of facilities and grounds, said the blockage originated in the kitchen drains and would have rapidly spread throughout the school's sewer lines if students hadn't been dismissed.
Students were served dry cereal and other ready-to-eat items before dismissal, which occurred around 12:30 p.m.
As a precaution, all of the food that had been prepared was discarded, as were all disposable plates, tableware and other items that had been exposed in the kitchen. In addition, all trays, pots and cookware were being cleaned and sanitized, as were all preparation surfaces and other areas of the kitchen.
While the line-clearing work lasted three or four hours, the cleanup was expected to last into the night.
“They're cleaning and sanitizing everything,” Adams said. “All of the food is thrown away. It's a waste, but better safe than sorry.”
An inspector from the Health Department will be brought in this morning to ensure the kitchen facilities have been properly sanitized.
A crew from the city of Keyser responded to the school late Monday morning, using a high-pressure line cleaner to remove the blockage. Adams said he didn't see anything unusual wash out with the drain contents, and that it may have been something that was washed down the drain Friday afternoon, and then hardened over the weekend.
As a precaution, the Keyser crew cleaned all of the main lines running from the school, all the way to the sewer main running in front of the building.
Adams credited Jim Hannas and his crew of John Hickey and Bobby Pritts with responding as soon as the blockage was detected and staying at the school until the problem was resolved. Adams said he hopes to contract with the city to have a crew visit the school once a year and routinely clean the lines as a precaution.
About three years ago the school was closed for two or three days when a similar blockage occurred. In that case, a drain line running beneath the concrete kitchen floor had corroded and collapsed, requiring the line to be dug up and replaced.
No such problems occurred this time.