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LANSING — Heavy rainstorms create a problem for the workers charged with managing the wastewater that flows under city streets.
There's only so much that can flow through the tubes that carry sewage and runoff to area treatment plants. Bursts of heavy rain,
are too much for the system.
"You just can't keep up," said Paul Stokes, East Lansing Water Resource Recovery Facility superintendent and interim superintendent of the Lansing Wastewater Treatment Plant. "If it's slow and gradual all day long, a nice rain like a farmer likes to see, we can usually handle that pretty good. It's that heavy rain over a short period of time we can't."