By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
LITTLE VALLEY — The Cattaraugus County Center, closed Tuesday afternoon due to a water leak, is expected to reopen on Monday morning.
Just before 2 p.m. Tuesday, people who work in the County Center on Court Street began to notice water seeping out onto the floor from the third floor to the basement.
Hundreds, possibly thousands of gallons of water used to cool the building leaked from the “penthouse,” a structure atop the roof of the three-story County Center, before maintenance workers could shut off the pumps.
Buildings and Grounds Superintendent James Adsit briefed members of the Cattaraugus County Legislature’s Public Works Committee on Wednesday.
The legislature committee meetings were moved from the third floor of the closed County Center.
A loss of power in the building occurred just prior to the discovery of water, Adsit told county lawmakers. He believes a power surge may have occurred when the power came back on which caused a high volume of water to burst a pro-press connection in the 2-inch copper pipe used to circulate cold water throughout the building for cooling.
An undetermined number of ceiling tiles have fallen after becoming waterlogged, Adsit said.
“People were scrambling to cover equipment and paper files,” Adsit told the committee.
The building was closed about 2 p.m., Adsit said. Next was an all-hands-on-deck effort to clean up the water from offices and hallways.
Some computers and other equipment were damaged by water dripping from ceilings, Adsit said. There was no immediate damage estimate of monetary.
Adsit said maintenance employees were joined by Public Works Department workers and the deputy sheriffs that staff the metal detector in the first stages of the cleanup.
“We were sweeping water down the stairways,” Adsit said. Employees used vacuums to pull water off floors in halls and offices.
Adsit said the initial phase of the cleanup was over by about 7 p.m. Tuesday. ServePro was contracted to bring fans and dehumidifiers to dry out the building.
Fans and dehumidifiers were still in place at 5 p.m. Wednesday and Adfsit said they would continue running through the night.
County Legislature Chairman Andrew Burr, R-Gowanda, thanked Adsit and county employees for their prompt response that kept damage to a minimum and hastened cleanup.
“County employees stepped up and did a fantastic job,” Burr told Adsit.
The pro-press connection on the 2-inch copper pipe in the cooling system was made three years ago. It does not involve soldering the connection.
A similar leak several years ago caused considerably more damage because the leak from the same area several years ago occurred overnight when no one was around to discover the water until the building opened the next morning.
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Olean Attorney Daniel A. DeRose indicated that the water leak was an urgent situation and was pleased that County officials, including Vice Chairman Brisky were working diligently to address the leak.
