GRAND FORKS - If you're fixing Thanksgiving supper -- here's a warning about a greasy issue.
"Usually I start the day before and you know do a lot of prep work," Cook Diane Lien says.
At the East Grand Forks Senior Center about a dozen seniors are waiting for turkey and all the trimmings.
"I like making the pies and pumpkin and apple are my favorite," Lien said.
After dinner is said and done, it's what you do with the grease that has city leaders concerned.
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Putting grease down drains isn't recommended.
"It'll cling to the sides of them and eventually block off the flow of water. This will cause problems in homes, residences, businesses basically anywhere," Storm-water and Wastewater Compliance Inspector Brittany Renner said.
A nasty problem that could affect more than just your home.
"Sewage can back up into the homes or into the streets. So it just gets to be more expensive for wastewater staff to maintain the lines and to treat as well," Renner said.
If you're frying a turkey. You'll have a lot of grease left over. But you can bring your grease to the public works department on North 47th Street.
The problem is so bad, plumbers can be busier the day after Thanksgiving because of all the clogged pipes.
"That is terrible. You don't want to put it in the drain. There' s a lot of things that shouldn't go down the drain," Lien said.
For smaller batches of grease you can fill a soup can and then throw it away.
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A simple tip--
"Not down the drain. So I usually just let it harden in a tin can and then I put it in my waste basket," says Lien.
--to keep your holiday and your drains clean.
