Shortly before noon today the Cesar Chavez Student Center suffered a sewage leak, shutting down food vendors and restricting access to water, a school official said. Raw sewage leaked onto the floor surrounding the restrooms on one of the lower levels, where students were walking and eating lunch.

The problem originated in the main sewer pump system behind the kitchens in the lower level of the Center and affected two restrooms on the conference level and the immediate enclosed area, said Paul Herrera, Human Resources manager for the Student Center.

“We caught it at a low level before it affected the main level where everybody is walking through,” Herrera said.

After Herrera was made aware of the situation, an in house operation staff started the cleanup process, in addition to an immediate shut off of water.

“There are people in the restrooms, both the mens and the womens, cleaning up and there’s more downstairs then we have our building engineer who’s looking into what caused the backup,” he said.

It is unknown when water will be turned on but may stay off until Monday, Herrera said.