HADLEY — A sewer backup that caused wastewater to enter a Hadley apartment building on Greenleaves Drive Wednesday morning temporarily displaced more than 30 residents, and likely will force most first-floor tenants to seek other living arrangements for several days.

As management for the Vesta Apartment Homes worked with families and individuals at 38 Greenleaves Drive — on the Hadley-Amherst town line — to determine the best course of action, Amherst Department of Public Works workers were on scene Wednesday making repairs to both the clogged sewer line and a large sinkhole, about the size of a compact vehicle, that formed behind the building. The sewer line belongs to Amherst.

While the residents on the second and third floors at 38 Greenleaves were expected to be able to move back in later Wednesday, those living in the nine apartments on the first floor were, at best, hoping to be able to get their belongings out, once ServPro cleanup and restoration crews had pulled carpets, removed drywall and sanitized the affected apartments and common areas.

“Now it’s waiting for them to clean up the water and disinfect,” said Jamie Kopinto, whose home was among those impacted by the sewage flowing into the building.

She and others were told by Vesta management to prepare for being out from their homes for a few days. “They’re saying it could be until Tuesday, and it’s on us to find a hotel,” Kopinto said.

Not at home at the time of the incident, Kopinto said she received an email message around 9:30 a.m. describing a “sewer backup” and explaining the uncertainty around when she and others would be allowed back in.

Kopinto said she and her two children, who were at school, will be staying with a friend for the time being.

Other residents on the first floor who were home described seeing the wastewater enter their residences, mostly through the toilet and floor drains in the kitchen and bathroom, with at  least an inch of standing wastewater by the time the situation was addressed.

The tenants expressed appreciation for officials, including Hadley firefighters, who called around to locate accommodations, though a property management employee told several residents during a meeting outside the building’s main entrance that it could be up to three weeks before the most affected apartments are habitable. “This is not going to be overnight,” she said.

There was also caution that while local hotel rooms are available this week, by weekend they will be booked for commencements at Amherst and Mount Holyoke colleges, meaning the nearest hotel rooms may be in Springfield.

When residents can move back in will be determined by Hadley building and health officials.

Interim Town Administrator Michael Mason wrote in an email that a brief inspection indicated that the first-floor residents needed to be evacuated and moved into local hotels due to “life safety concerns.”

“None of the residents on the upper floors required evacuation and have been cleared to remain in the building,” Mason said.

For the Amherst DPW, it was all hands on deck to get repairs done to the sewer line as soon as possible.

Superintendent Guilford Mooring said workers had been out dealing with the sinkhole already, placing a fence around it. But the sinkhole was determined to be a separate issue, with most of the blame for the sewer backup being the 21-inch sewer pipe that takes wastewater from the property. That pipe was filled with rags, disposable wipes and other items that shouldn’t be flushed down toilets.

“The sewer line was flowing correctly until the rags clogged it up,” Mooring said.

Amherst town engineer Jason Skeels said the plug only affected what was upstream, meaning the 38 Greenleaves Drive building, with other buildings on the property, including those in Hadley and in Amherst, unaffected.

The initial response included a Vactor truck, a specialized vehicle that can unclog a sewer line by vacuuming out material.

As for addressing the sinkhole, Skeels said the pipe there will be lined with epoxy resin and a plastic sleeve, also known as a “cured in place pipe,” that will prevent it from failing.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.