Sewer grates are turning up in St. Paul storm basins, puzzling city officials

It started on St. Paul’s West Side and has mysteriously spread to other parts of the city.

A vandal — or a group of people — has been lifting heavy, iron storm sewer grates and tossing them into catch basins.

Since June 1, it’s happened more than 150 times.

“It is odd,” said Sean Kershaw, director of St. Paul Public Works. “Somebody or a group of people are lifting out the sewer grates. And these are big pieces of iron that weigh about 150 pounds. They’re not scrapping them. They’re not breaking them. The person or people are dropping them into the catch basin.”

For fun. Or to create a hazard. Kershaw doesn’t know why.

“I’m curious about the motivation,” he said.

City workers have been painstakingly digging the storm sewer grates out of catch basins and repositioning them so people don’t trip or injure themselves. So far, the vandalism seems to be confined to St. Paul.

“We’ve not yet heard about it happening in other cities,” Kershaw said. “It appears to be a person in St. Paul doing this for unknown reasons. We think this person has some sort of tool that allows them to do this quickly and not be caught.”

St. Paul residents who see someone actively removing a storm drain grate are encouraged to call 911 to report the incident. To report missing grates or other storm drain damage during weekday business hours, residents should call 651-266-9850. After hours or on weekends, call 651-266-9700 and leave a detailed message of the location.