WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. -- Wheat Ridge residents were angered to learn Wednesday that a man drove his camper pickup into the high school parking lot and dumped raw sewage down the storm drain.

That drain emptied into a retention pond just a few feet away from the school's soccer fields.

"Gross," said Lisa Stigall of the Wheat Ridge Police Department. "We're all disgusted by the fact. But we're also grateful that this retention pond was here, because had it not been, the contamination could have flowed into the creeks and caused some major problems."

Security cameras recorded a man pulling into the lot on June 25, then looking around and lingering as if waiting for someone or something.

The raw sewage wasn't discovered until July 1.

"We responded immediately to stop the flow into the city," said Kim Henry, director of environmental services for the Jefferson County school district.

She said the district has undertaken an expensive cleanup and estimated the cost of remediation at close to $250,000.

"We don't have all the numbers and won't until we're finished," Henry said. "But at this point, there are disposal fees, the emergency contractor and 24/7 monitoring of all the diversion flows. So there's a significant cost incurred."

While crews worked to clean up the mess, several soccer students were practicing on the adjacent field.

"It's revolting. It's pretty nasty. You can smell it right now," said Akio Ohtake-Gordon. "It's horrible that someone would do that because it's a quarter of a million dollars that could be going to athletics and education."

"That's a bummer for the school," added Luca DelPiccolo. "That a guy came and did that at a public school is just wrong."

School officials said they're angered by the man's actions.

"Obviously, there's a level of unawareness or ignorance on (his) part that he doesn't realize the impact of this," Henry said.

Ironically, there is an RV dump station just a few blocks away from the high school at Prospect RV Park at 11600 West 44th Ave.

The owner told 7NEWS they charge $10 to use the station. She said it's free if you stay at the park.

"Once we're able to catch the person it's going to cost him a lot more than it would have to dump his 'potty' somewhere where he was supposed to," Stigall said.

CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman told 7NEWS there are also dump stations at nine of the state's rest areas. She said there is no charge to use them.

Anyone with information regarding the identity of the man pictured in the photo is asked to contact the Wheat Ridge Police Department at 303-237-2220.