MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is investigating whether a clog in a submerged sewer overflow pipe may have exacerbated multiple flooding events in the Bay View neighborhood over the past year.
The blockage includes tree debris, along with trash from the streets above, and was first detected as far back as early 2025, months before historic flooding caused millions in damage across the City of Milwaukee in August followed by another round in April of 2026. But MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer told reporters July 15 they didn’t realize the issue was as bad as it was until June 26 of this year.
“[It] was around the end of June when we saw that this was more blockage than what had been there before. It may have washed in with those last two storms that we had,” said Shafer as crews behind him worked on clearing the blockage near the Jones Island wastewater treatment facility.
Shafer said MMSD is still working to determine how much of an impact on flooding events the blockage had, though his public comments came hours after a press release from Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic calling for answer as well as compensation for Bay View residents impacted by the floods.
“The people of Bay View deserve clear answers and accountability. I am calling on MMSD and Veolia to immediately provide a public timeline of events, including when the failure was discovered, what actions were taken, and when the City was notified,” said Dimitrijevic.
When asked why residents weren’t notified sooner, Shafer said MMSD waited until it confirmed the pipe was completely blocked before going public, saying they didn’t want to announce it until they knew for certain.
Shafer declined to comment when asked if impacted people could expect payments. “Right now we just want to try to fix it, and we’ll see what happens with that,” he said.
Cleanup work is expected to take at least two weeks given the volume of debris needing to be cleared.
The cleanup also comes as Veolia, which operates MMSD’s wastewater treatment facilities, is preparing to be audited by third-party firm EMA, Incorporated amid allegations of mismanagement levied by advocacy group Common Ground. However, Shafer stressed responsibility for the blockage fell to MMSD, not Veolia.
“This is an MMSD responsibility. It was not Veolia at all. They’re responsible for inspecting it when we tell them to. But because it was submerged, we never told them to do it because it was too hard to get into it,” said Shafer.
MMSD is now modeling both the August and April storms to determine the pipe’s impact.
News of the clog was first reported by Caitlin Looby from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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