The Kansas River flows downstream near the Bowersock dam in Lawrence in this file photo from 2013.

Lawrence city commissioners at their meeting Tuesday night said they may send a letter to state and federal environmental regulators regarding releases of sewage into the Kansas River that have come from the city of Topeka’s wastewater treatment plant.

There have been two instances of raw sewage going into the river since April, the most recent — 55,000 gallons — on Tuesday, when a sewage main broke. There was a third instance that involved partially treated wastewater being released into the Kaw due to heavy rains around the plant, a legal practice during inclement weather.

Matthew Herbert

The commission may not put Commissioner Matthew Herbert in charge of writing the letter, however. Herbert posted some strong comments on his City Commission Facebook page Tuesday about the release. He even put them in letter form.

Dear Topeka,

I was elected on April 7th. Today marks my 104th day in office. Today also marks the THIRD time your city has dumped thousands of gallons of sewage into the Kansas River, set on a course for my fine city. It was funny the first time. It made you look incompetent the second. Now, on your third offense, I’m going to start leaving flaming bags of poo on your city steps until you figure out a more permanent solution for your feces disposal.

Love,

Lawrence City Commissioner Matthew Herbert

Herbert prefaced his comments by noting that normally his wife reads his Facebook posts before he makes them live, in an effort to keep him from sticking his foot in his mouth. But his wife was out of town.

A representative from Topeka declined to comment on Herbert’s social media posts.

On Wednesday, Herbert continued to make various puns and jokes about fecal matter on social media.

When contacted by the Journal-World, he said he would sing and dance in the streets if that would bring more attention to the leaks, which flow downstream to Lawrence.

Lawrence’s water quality has not been affected during any leak, city water officials have said.

“My goal was to draw attention to an issue that I would like to see resolved, that up until this point has been swept under the rug,” he said.

Herbert said Wednesday his remarks were tongue-in-cheek, and he’s aware the releases were within state limits. He says he has no intention of leaving flaming bags of anything in Topeka.