A backup had occurred in a sewer cleanout pipe in front of the Butter Paddle. Geri Forsythe, assistant manager of the Butter Paddle, was getting out of her car at the time of the overflow. "I could see all this sewage bubbling up," she said. "It was very stinky."

The Butter Paddle shares the shopping complex at 14510 Big Basin Way with several other businesses and restaurants. Forsythe said she is unsure which business caused the blockage.

She said one of the volunteers working at the Butter Paddle called the city, which then called the West Valley Sanitation District, which sent out a maintenance worker.

Bogosian estimated that at least 100 gallons of sewage had flowed into a storm drain that releases into Saratoga Creek. He said a West Valley Sanitation District maintenance worker used a garden hose to wash solid waste and bits of toilet paper about 100 yards down the street into the storm drain.

Bogosian, who served on the city council from 1997 to 2004 and as mayor from 1999 to 2000, was not happy with what he saw. One of his campaign promises when he ran for office was to clean up Saratoga Creek.

"The protocol is to sandbag it and contain it," Bogosian said. "They bring in a truck with a suction hose to suck it up. You're not supposed to hose it into the storm drains."

Bogosian said he approached the maintenance worker. "I said, 'I can't believe you did this,' and he just shrugged his shoulders."

"Apparently, it was a grease blockage at a restaurant that backed up and overflowed onto the sidewalk," West Valley Sanitation District general manager Robert Reid said. "Our standard practice is to pick up everything that can be picked up with a bucket and shovel in order to clean the area. Then it's flushed with clean water until there is no residue on the sidewalk. Essentially, that's the typical way to clean up in this situation."

Reid estimates 10 gallons of sewage were spilled onto Big Basin Way that morning. He said a larger spill of a few hundred gallons or more, depending on the location, would require containment and the use of a truck, called a Vactor, that sucks up the water. Even then, the area would still be flushed with water after the majority of the waste was removed.

"I know that [Bogosian] is concerned about the creek, and we are, too," Reid said. "There have been problems in the past, and we don't want to do anything to cause problems with the creek.

"Speaking as the manager of the district, it was handled properly," Reid said.

While Bogosian was in office, the city was involved in a lawsuit filed by the Friends of Santa Clara County Creeks and the San Francisco BayKeepers. They had sued the city alleging violation of clean water laws. Restaurants and businesses on Big Basin Way were accused of dumping raw sewage into the creek. The expensive lawsuit resulted in the cleaned-up creek.

Don Whetstone, who owns an office building that borders Saratoga Creek, was a member of the Friends of the Santa Clara County Creeks at the time of the lawsuit. "Some years ago we had major problems with sewage getting into the creek from several different sources," he said. "Back in the '90s that creek was a mess. It took a major effort to get the authorities to do anything about it."

Whetstone said the city and the West Valley Sanitation District have been doing a good job since the settlement of the suit. But he was unhappy to hear about the spill on Jan. 11. "I applaud Stan for doing something about it," he said.

Bogosian has called the city, the West Valley Sanitation District and the Regional Water Quality Control Board regarding the spill. "I want accountability," he said. He said he wants a written statement that says proper cleanup procedures will be followed in the event of another spill.

Reid said that the West Valley Sanitation District is following through with an investigation of the incident. "Whenever we have something like this happen, we find out the cause and then make sure there is not a problem that will cause it to happen again in the future," he said.