Mitchell Mylius
@ MITCHELLMYLIUS
Thousands of people were evacuated from the college at about 2 p.m. Wednesday after reports that a water main had sprung a leak.
New construction being done near the 400 building uncovered it, according to L.P.C. President Barry Russell who said workers noticed the pipe was disconnected, but because the ground was insulating it there wasn’t any leak.
“When they uncovered it, the water went everywhere,” said Russell.
The hole surrounding the pipe continued to fill as workers tried to pump the water out, which made it impossible to see which pipe had a leak.
There are three main water lines at LPC: clean water, fire sprinklers and reclaimed water, used in bathrooms and for irrigation. It ended up being the reclaimed water pipe that had burst.
“And because that water line flushes all the commodes in the new buildings, that created a health hazard,” said Russell.
All water to the campus was shut off around 4 p.m.
This affected student Leanne Styczinski, who takes the bus to school. Styczinski was about to use the restroom until an administrator stopped her. Faculty and staff were trying to keep commodes from being flushed in buildings 2500, 2400 and 1600.
“The construction workers wouldn’t even let me use their porta-potty, there’s no close public restrooms to here,” said Styczinski.
Vice President of Student Services Diana Rodriguez said it was absolutely necessary to evacuate everyone.
“We want to make sure everyone has clean water,” Rodriguez said.
Russell said he received a notification around 9 P.M. last night confirming the water had been turned back on.
