Six months later, the walls on Ed Nugent’s home still bear marks from the night when three inches of raw sewage — still with bits of toilet paper in it — flowed up from his toilet and bathtub, flooding several hundred square feet of the Bellevue residence he had shared for 50 years with his late wife.

Three homes were flooded on Dec. 8, 2015 when the city-maintained sewage main became clogged. Residents rushed to try and stem the flow, first by using towels to sop up the mess, then bailing out the sewer water with buckets. The dirty water kept gushing out of the floor and the manhole cover outside for several hours until the city’s utilities team showed up and was able to clear the blockage.

But, the trouble didn’t end there.

The resulting sewage backup resulted in nearly $200,000 in damages to two homes that the Bellevue Utilities Department is saying it is not liable for, despite an independent analysis that states otherwise.

Because the blockage did not occur on their property and the city of Bellevue is denying liability, Nugent, 90, and next-door neighbors Jason and Amy DeMorrow are out of options to repair their homes.

The DeMorrows were able to afford bringing in a cleaning company to sterilize the floors and cut out the bottom foot of their walls, allowing them to dry out and prevent mold and rot. Roughly 700 square feet of flooring on the bottom of their split-level home is condemned will need to be replaced before their 2- and 5-year-old children can use the space again.

A third residence belonging to Paula and Wilton Chinn was also mildly flooded, but the couple was able to pay for the $6,000 worth of repairs in part due to a small rider on their insurance policy.

The Surrey Downs residents are looking at a situation akin to Hurricane Katrina, said Dave Maxum, a partner at Tombo Construction in Seattle. Water-logged homes are at a high risk of mold from the pathogens in the water. If not dealt with properly, there could be serious health impacts.

Nugent, however, in unable to afford any work on his home. His possessions sit in water-logged boxes that he hasn’t unpacked because he says he is hopeful the city will come through. Nugent’s home was the worst damaged, with an estimated $128,000 in repairs needed.

All three families reported that their respective homeowners insurance companies refused to pay for the repairs because the sewage blockage originated in city pipes on public property.

“Amy and I, if push came to shove, we both have careers and could take care of it ourselves. My real concern is Ed,” said Jason DeMorrow.

In the days following, multiple utilities crews came out to inspect the scene and remove “a wall of roots” from the pipes, according to inspection documents. On both Dec. 10 and 11, city crews cleared out multiple gallons of roots.

Utilities reports going back to 2006 note roots in the pipeline in question. Trees are located in close proximity to not one, but two manholes.

However, the city blames the blockage on a “tremendous” amount of grease that they theorized a resident must have poured down their sink.

“It’s pretty unusual, this amount of FOG (fats, oils and grease) is something you usually see near restaurants,” Bellevue Utilities spokesperson Michael May told the Reporter, adding that the city is consistently trying to educate customers on how to properly use their sewer system and not abuse it.

But blaming grease as the culprit is in error, according to an independent analysis conducted by Patrick Yamashita, a civil engineer for the City of Mercer Island who has specialized in wastewater and stormwater engineering since 1988.

“This is a 10 inch diameter sewer line. It is extremely unlikely that someone could pour enough hot grease down their drain to cause such an obstruction in the main without blocking their own side sewer,” Yamashita wrote in his report. The roots, he argued, were the cause, as they likely collected fats, oils and grease over the months and years leading up to the blockage.

“Even if grease was the sole cause of the backup, the city cannot transfer blame for a problem in its own sewer,” he added.

While the city of Bellevue respects third party opinions, they have their own experts who don’t believe that the presence of roots in the sewer pipe led to the backup, according to May. They have unfortunately not been able to identify the party responsible for pouring grease into the system.

“This event is unfortunate, and when things like this happen, we recognize the difficulty of situation,” he said. “The city can only accept liability when we’re negligible for our service.”

The pipes on 110th Avenue Southeast were not deemed to be at high risk for problems, according to May, and were therefore required to be cleaned every ten years and inspected by video every 20 years. They were last cleaned and inspected in 2009 and 2004, respectively.

The Utilities Department is looking into reevaluating the service levels due to the large amount of grease found in the pipe, according to May.

The only way that Nugent or the DeMorrows will likely get any money from the city is to take them to court. While the attorneys they have approached so far believe the residents have a case, neither party has the funds for a legal battle.

The entire situation has been demoralizing, said DeMorrow. He never expected to be in a situation such as this when he and his wife moved to Bellevue to start a family in 2009.

Even neighbors whose homes weren’t damaged think the situation has a bad smell.

“It’s appalling. Here, you’ve got a 90-year-old guy who lived in and paid taxes in Bellevue for 50 years, fought in World War II, and this is how he’s being treated. It really irritates me when I feel like people are being taken advantage of,” said Tom Doyle. “I feel like the city just relies on people giving up.”