LYNN – Leavitt Place resident Lisa Marenghi returned home from work Wednesday morning and was greeted with a rather filthy surprise.”The basement toilet basically exploded with feces and dirt, it was just disgusting and it was everywhere,” she said.Around 1 a.m. Wednesday, Marenghi said she detected a foul odor drifting up from her basement. When she went down to investigate, she said she was horrified at what she saw.”There were about three inches of raw sewage in my finished basement and it smelled horrible,” she said. “So I immediately called Lynn Water and Sewer Commission (LWSC) around 1 a.m. and was told all of the workers had gone home around 11 p.m. So I was basically stuck with toxic waste in my basement.”A few hours later, Marenghi said she called LWSC again and requested assistance. Around 11 a.m. she said an employee showed up.”He checked the manhole in the street, and when he did that, the toilet backed up all over again, I thought I was going to throw up,” she said. “He told me to ventilate the house and said to disinfectant the room, but I insisted on a professional cleaner to come to the house.”Marenghi said she was given a letter from LWSC that afternoon that said the city is not responsible for damages incurred as a result of sewer backflows.The letter went on to say that a backflow valve should have been installed to prevent such a backup.Marenghi said she wasn’t aware of such a thing.”I was never told that I had to do that and I insist on a professional cleaning,” she said. “You know, it’s not like someone took a crap and clogged up the toilet. The city blew up my bathroom and then sent me a letter.”LWSC sewer superintendent Anthony Capano said he is aware of the situation, but has yet to receive a claim of damages from Marenghi about the incident.”There is a process that we have to go through at the commission if she feels that she has a claim,” he said. “She can certainly submit a letter or claim and we would handle it from there.”LWSC director Robert Tucker went on to say that it isn’t uncommon for instances such as backflows to occur because there are 200 miles of pipes in the city, and it’s virtually impossible to predict when something of that nature is going to happen.”Sometimes we warrant a payment of incurred expenses if they are claimed,” he said. “We’re pretty reasonable here and we’ll accept a claim up to about a month after, but not years. I understand she called and spoke to a few people, and we responded, but we need something in writing.”Marenghi argued that she didn’t submit a claim four years ago when a similar incident happened at her home when she claimed crews were working at a site on nearby Chatham Street.”They just sent someone to clean it up four years ago, so I guess I’m going to have to fight my own battle now,” she said.After spending roughly $700 to clean up some of the mess in her basement, Marenghi said she plans to have the area assessed by her insurance company and take the amount to the city.Tucker welcomed the submission and said Marenghi could apply for a $500 LWSC grant for the installation of a backflow valve to prevent the situation from happening again.