Sewage Backup Closes Pataskala Daycare

A sewage backup earlier this week closed a Pataskala daycare center and left dozens of parents looking for child care, 10TV's Tanisha Mallett reported Thursday.

The World of Child Wonderment Child Development Center, located on Oak Meadow Drive, was forced to close when workers noticed water in the basement, center officials said.

Jennifer Morrison, one of the co-owners of the center, said about 30 children ages 3 to 5 were sleeping in the basement, and staff had to move them upstairs.

Morrison said staff then realized the water was raw sewage.

"Water started coming up through the floor, and we didn't know what it was at first," Morrison said.

Parents were forced to find child care alternatives.

"It was very stressful Monday night scrambling for the next day," said Jennifer Beach, a parent of a child at World of Child Wonderment. "I didn't have anything until the next morning."

Pataskala's mayor, city administrator and utilities director toured the daycare Thursday, Mallett reported.

According to the utilities director, a grease blockage clogged the pipe Monday and rags continued to back it up.

Libbey Qurshi, the other owner, said the blockage has cost the center $15,000 so far.

"We've had to throw out just about all of our shelving and chairs and a lot of our equipment," she said.

The daycare will not be able to open until the state declares it is safe. The owners say they have not been given a timeline on when that will happen, Mallett reported.

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