GARDINER — State health inspectors closed Dunkin’ Donuts on Wednesday after receiving reports of raw sewage oozing onto the kitchen floor.
Lisa Roy, program manager for the state health inspection program, said sewage had backed up into the establishment on eight separate occasions since spring.
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“The complainant was very concerned and wanted us to check it out,” Roy said Friday. “Our inspector went down there and concluded they had plumbing and sewage issues.
“It was not backing up at the time, but it was stated that it happened the previous day.
“We were told that it discharges onto the kitchen floor,” Roy said. “The sewage seeps up through this plate in the floor. They mop it up, but she was concerned that it wasn’t being professionally cleaned.”
Roy said the owner, Normand Boulag, met with the state plumbing inspector and Gardiner’s plumbing inspector Thursday morning.
Inspectors concluded that the restaurant’s plumbing system is not up to code, she said.
“They’re working with us,” Roy said. “We issued an imminent health hazard (citation) and asked them to close, which they did voluntarily. They’re working on a permanent fix for the plumbing and hoping to get it fixed by next week sometime.”
Boulag said he had put off replacing the old sewer system until he remodeled the restaurant in April.
“We’re fixing it as fast as we can, but we want to do it right so we don’t have any other issues with it,” Boulag said. “I’m meeting with city inspectors trying to work out the best possible solution. We’re hoping, at the most, a week and a half if everything is approved.”
Roy said Boulag was cited for not reporting the sewer problem when it first happened.
Inspectors also found other violations.
“Many of them were because of the septic issue, but they also had a cooler that was a bit below the required temperature,” Roy said.
“It’s supposed to be 41 (degrees) or below, and they were 44 to 45 (degrees).”
She added, “Food employees were not washing their hands when engaged in other activities. They were using sanitizer when they handled money, but they need to wash their hands when they go from handling money to food prep.”
Other violations included a misplaced trash can, missing floor tiles and food containers stored on the floor.
“They need to do some cleaning,” she said. “But these things can be corrected easily.”
Mechele Cooper — 621-5663
mcooper@centralmaine.com
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