San Diego

Operations at the County Courthouse downtown were mostly back to normal Thursday after the sewage spill earlier in the week that flooded the building’s basement and brought justice to a temporary halt.

Municipal Court Administrator Kent Pedersen said workers spent the day mopping up the smelly effluent--which covered the basement at a depth of six inches at one point Wednesday--and tallying damages.

No firm estimate of losses was available late Thursday, but Pedersen predicted costs of as much as $10,000 in lost staff time due to Municipal Court’s half-day closure and several thousand more in physical damages.

At Superior Court, which closed for the entire day Wednesday, Executive Officer William Pierce said the sewage had ruined an assortment of new furniture as well as some typewriters and other supplies. Pierce did not have a cost estimate of the losses.

Meanwhile, the YMCA, also deluged with sewage, was running again, with everything except the swimming pool in operation.

Trolley service, which was disrupted because of the spill, was expected to be fully restored by Saturday.

Yvonne Rehg, a spokeswoman for the city’s Water Utilities Department, said the sewer main that was ruptured has been repaired. The 18-inch pipe, located 16 feet beneath an excavation site at State and C streets, was struck Monday evening by a drill operated by workers building the Emerald-Shapery Center, an office and hotel project.

Rehg said the city, the county, the YMCA and others affected by the spill are expected to bill Wagner Construction Co., a subcontractor on the construction project, for damages.