A massive lump of congealed fat, wet wipes and other detritus — dubbed the “fatberg” — is growing underneath the streets of Baltimore. 
 
 The Baltimore Department of Public Works said Monday it discovered the fatberg earlier this month in a sewer main between Baltimore Penn Station and the 1700 block of Charles Street. So far the fatberg has been responsible for a dry weather sewer overflow on Sept. 21 that discharged around 1.2 million gallons of sewage into the Jones Falls, the department said. 
 
 A similar fatberg estimated to weigh more than 140 tons was also recently discovered in London’s sewer system and is expected to take weeks to destroy. Baltimore’s fatberg, however, has been mostly scraped off and sent to the landfill on Quarantine Road. 
 
 Department of Public Works Congealed fats, oils and grease have blocked a sewer main between Baltimore Penn Station and the 1700 block of Charles Street. Congealed fats, oils and grease have blocked a sewer main between Baltimore Penn Station and the 1700 block of Charles Street. (Department of Public Works) 
 
 When engineers decided to explore the sewer to determine the cause of multiple sewer overflows in the area, they discovered the fatberg, DPW said. The walls of a 100-year-old, 24-inch wide pipe were caked with congealed fats, oils and grease. Up to 85 percent of the pipe was clogged with the congealed fat, blocking the flow of sewage.Raymond said there were other, smaller fatbergs throughout the city’s pipes, but none as large as the one under Penn Station. 
 
 Raymond said the city has a fats, oils and grease — known as FOG — prevention program targeting restaurants and other food service establishments. When the substances go down a pipe, they congeal, harden and often attach to other items that don’t break down in the sewer, such as wet wipes. 
 
 Plus, Raymond added, FOG can block up a homeowner’s pipes, causing an expensive call to a plumber. 
 
 cwells@baltsun.com 
 
 twitter.com/cwellssun ||||| BALTIMORE (WBFF)-- The Baltimore Department of Public Works reports a massive sanitary overflow due to a "fatberg." They describe it as a congealed lump of fat, along with wet wipes and other items that do not break down in sewer systems. 
 
 Officials say the massive plug of grease has been growing, far below the surface, in a midtown sewer main between Baltimore Penn Station and the 1700 block of Charles Street, which includes the Charles Theater. 
 
 Nearly 1.2 million gallons of sewage overflowed on Sept. 21 which discharged into the Jones Falls at North Charles and West Lanvale Streets. It was the second time in as many weeks that the fatberg created a sewer overflow. 
 
 Engineers for the Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) decided to explore the sewer in that area to determine the cause of the recent dry-weather overflows. Overflows of the sanitary sewer in that area have become common following heavy rains. 
 
 They sent a machine with a closed-circuit television camera into the sewer, and soon discovered the walls of the sewer pipe were caked with congealed fats, oils, and grease (FOG). Unfortunately, as they were working in the pipe a backup occurred and led to a sewer overflow. 
 
 The buildup of FOG inside the pipe was so thick that it slowed sewer water moving through that area. Engineers estimate that 85 percent of the pipe, which is 24 inches across and more than 100 years old, was blocked. This resulted in sanitary sewer overflows happening underground, in a structured overflow that was designed more than 100 years ago as a sort of pressure-release valve in the event the sewers backed up. 
 
 The overflow is diverted into the stormwater system and then into the Jones Falls. The structured overflow, in the 1700 block of Charles Street, and the City says a handful of others like it will be closed once a project to eliminate a restriction at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant is completed in late 2020. 
 
 The City’s sewers are being repaired and replaced to avoid infiltration of stormwater. This work will be done as the capacity of Baltimore’s sewer collection and treatment systems are upgraded under the City’s sewer system consent decree. Any repairs or replacement of the sewer pipe that crosses Charles Street at Lanvale Street will be determined once the FOG has been entirely removed. 
 
 DPW has a FOG program in effect which includes monitoring of food service establishments that discharge, or have the potential to discharge FOG-laden wastewater. These establishments must have a valid wastewater discharge permit and have functioning grease control devices, among other requirements, in order to be in compliance with the FOG program. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Can the Grease, Trash the Wipes 
 
 Private residences are not subject to the same regulations as food service establishments but should still take steps to keep fats, oils and grease and non-flushable items out of the sewer system and prevent costly overflows. Here are a few simple tips to remember: 
 
 • Do not put FOG down the drain. 
 
 • During food preparation and cleanup, pour unused grease from the “pan to the can.” Once it solidifies in an empty can, put it in the trash. 
 
 • Do not flush “flushable” wipes; put them in the trash instead. Wet wipes don’t break down in water and create sewer blockages. 
 
 • The only items that should be considered flushable are poo, pee, and toilet paper. 
 
 For additional information and other tips on protecting your pipes, visit publicworks.baltimorecity.gov. ||||| Tim Henderson, a “flusher” or trunk sewer technician holds a “fatberg” specimen as he works in the Regent Street and Victoria sewer in London in December 2014. (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 A massive “fatberg” weighing nearly as much as a school bus has been removed from a London sewer. 
 
 Never heard of a “fatberg?” You’re going to be so glad you asked. 
 
 It’s a blob-like, toxic lump of waste that forms when cooking oil and other fats wind up in pipes. The oil congeals and clumps with other household waste, blocking sewers and grossing out the Thames Water officials who have to deal with it. 
 
 This one was so large that it broke the roughly 70-year-old sewer where it was discovered. Repairs are expected to take two months and cost about $600,000, the Guardian reported. 
 
 “We see blockages all the time on household sewer pipes, which are about big enough for a cricket ball to pass through, but to have this much damage on a sewer almost a meter in diameter is mind-boggling,” Thames Water repair and maintenance supervisor Stephen Hunt told the Guardian. 
 
 Hunt, who has been overseeing the fatberg’s removal, added that the utility company will have to replace large expanses of the sewer — nearly 100 feet of pipe in total. 
 
 Fatbergs seem to be an unfortunately common occurrence in London — a search of the term on Thames Water’s Web site turns up a dozen news releases from the past four years. In August 2013, the utility company removed what it said was the largest fatberg in British history — a 15-ton behemoth of “wrongly flushed festering food fat mixed with wet wipes,” CBS reported. 
 
 That fall, the utility company even formed a “fatberg hit squad” to tackle the problem. 
 
 “The sewers serve an important purpose, they are not an abyss for household rubbish. Fat goes down the drain easily enough, but when it hits the cold sewers, it hardens into disgusting ‘fatbergs’ that block pipes,” Rob Smith, Thames Water’s chief sewer flusher and a member of the fatberg hit squad, said in a statement about the new agency. 
 
 The “fatberg” phenomenon happens elsewhere too, though no other city has given it such a dubiously affectionate nickname. In New York City, clearing backups caused by grease cost an estimated $4.65 million in 2013. 
 
 In both New York and London, utility companies say the large numbers of restaurants are responsible for large amounts of grease that get flushed into sewers. Wet wipes — which are marketed as flushable but don’t disintegrate in the sewage system — exacerbate the issue. 
 
 For those who want to avoid being part of the problem, Smith, of Thames Water, has this advice: 
 
 “We want everyone to remember the sewerman’s war cry: Bin it, don’t block it.”
– Not content to let those tea-sippers across the pond hog the spotlight, Baltimore just announced its very own "fatberg." CBS Baltimore reports the "congealed lump of fat" was found between Baltimore Penn Station and the 1700 block of Charles Street. The fatberg is comprised of fats, oils, and grease that hardened and collected other things that don't break down in the sewer, such as wet wipes, according to the Baltimore Sun. Authorities say it was blocking up to 85% of a 2-foot-wide, 100-year-old pipe. London recently made international news when a fatberg weighing more than 140 tons was discovered lurking in its sewer. Authorities found the fatberg while looking for the source of two sewer overflows in recent weeks, including one on Sept. 21 that sent 1.2 million gallons of sewage into the Jones Falls. While the main fatberg has already been largely broken apart and shipped to a landfill, authorities found a number of smaller fatbergs throughout Baltimore's sewer system. Restaurants and residents alike are advised to avoid putting fats, oils, grease, and wet wipes (even if they're technically "flushable") into the sewer system. "The only items that should be considered flushable are poo, pee, and toilet paper," WBFF states. (Part of London's fatberg may find an unusual home.)