Septic spill cleaned up on movie set

By Jonathan L'Ecuyer
Staff Writer

December 16, 2008 05:30 am

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ROCKPORT — Sometimes, unscripted moments are welcomed on the set of a film production, but yesterday's accidental improvisation by one of the "Hatteras Hotel" production's contractors is surely headed straight for the blooper reel.

The private septic company which provides the movie company with portable toilets sent a truck to clean the restrooms yesterday, but during the process the truck overflowed, spilling about four gallons of sewage onto Phillips Avenue.

Public Works crews responded to the scene after Phillips Avenue resident Annette Harrington called Town Hall reporting that people working with the movie production appeared to be dumping sewage and bleach into the town's sewer system.

Public Works foreman George Robertson said nothing ran into the sewer system and that the company hosed the street down after applying bleach and soap to the "grey water" spill.

"Four gallons inadvertently spilled onto the ground," Public Works director Joseph Parisi said yesterday. "They disinfected it and cleaned it up. It didn't appear anything of ours was impacted; it doesn't pose any problems to our system.

Filming is expected to continue in the Phillips Avenue area, specifically at the Emerson Inn by the Sea, through Thursday.

The film spotlights a collision of social classes in fictitious Salem Harbor, where young heiress Roxanne Hall (Samaire Armstrong of "Not Another Teen Movie") represents the wealthy upper crust. Ian Martin (Wade Williams of "Prison Break"), the town's new police chief, is a local boy demoted from the Boston detective squad and now returning to a broken home in sleepy Salem Harbor. Their stories intersect at the classy Hatteras Hotel, which is "played" by the Emerson Inn and, in the film, is owned and run by Mrs. Sarah Sharpe (Tracey Needham of "Life Goes On" and "JAG").

The movie is being produced by London-based Entertainment Motion Pictures (E-Motion) as well as by California-based Tale Gate.

The film, which also stars popular teen star Ryan Sypek ("Wildfire"), should be released sometime next year.

Jonathan L'Ecuyer can be reached at jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.