Officials in Macomb County, Michigan, on September 12 reported a 100-foot-long “fatberg,” comprised of oil, grease, wet wipes, and other materials, found blocking up a sewer line and urged the public to be mindful of what they wash down the drain.

County officials said the fatberg weighed up to 19 tons, not including liquids, and was six-feet tall at some points.

Around $100,000 was allocated for its removal, though the task of breaking it up proved more difficult than expected, officials said. “Initially high-pressure jets of water were used but failed to break apart the fatberg. Sewer workers then used hand saws and shovels to break it up,” according to a statement from the Macomb County Office of Public Works. The solid materials were extracted and disposed of in a landfill while the liquids were returned to the sewer, they said.

In recent years, officials in various cities around the world have shared footage of fatbergs in sewers to increase awareness. A fatberg found in Baltimore in 2017 caused the overflow of 1.2 million gallons of sewage into waterways, according to local reports. The same year, London officials reported the discovery of a "820-foot fatberg weighing 130 tons:http://stryfl.com/4113 in Whitechapel, describing it as one of the largest ever found.

On Wednesday, the same day the Macomb County fatberg was reported, a special-edition manhole cover was placed over the site of the Whitechapel fatberg, bearing the words: “The Whitechapel fatberg was defeated here in 2017.”

On Thursday, officials in St. Andrews, Scotland, announced a scheme to educated business owners on better ways to dispose of oil and grease. Credit: Macomb County Office of Public Works via Storyful