Man in Wheelchair Helps Avert "Disaster"

Bobby Burleson of Branchville, SC called attention to a major blockage in the local sewer system that, according to town officials, could have become a “natural disaster”.

The week before the Martin Luther King Holiday, Burleson, an employee with Branchville Wood Products for 9 years, noticed a persistent problem with stopped toilets. The custodian constantly badgered his supervisors until a plumber was called on Friday from nearby Orangeburg to investigate the problem. When the stoppage failed to turn up in the factory’s sewer lines, town officials were notified.

Branchville sewer and water workers were off for the Martin Luther King weekend into Monday. On Tuesday, town officials including Mayor Tim Cooner discovered the blockage, described as a “giant blob of grease” at the Branchville Public School on HWY 78. The grease likely came from the school cafeteria.

According to Amy Easterling, secretary at Branchville Wood Products, whose father is also Water Commissioner Tom Jennings, “Had the students been in school on Monday (with the kitchens running) the grease would have expanded into the main sewer lines causing a natural disaster” for the eastern side of Branchville.

Easterling also credited Burleson for his constant urging of their employers to find the source of the stoppage. A double amputee, he has been in a wheelchair since 1987. The retired dairy farmer began working for Branchville Wood Products, owned by Cox Industries of Orangeburg, in 1998.