Faber's Road residents are in distress tonight after a 12-inch sewer main broke, releasing hundreds of gallons of foul smelling water into the neighborhood.
This happened yesterday, and since this morning, BWSL workmen have been trying to repair the broken pipe that normally carries waste to the sewage ponds behind Faber's Road. But up to this evening, they still weren't done and a thick stench permeates the neighborhood. How bad is it? We were there as public health inspectors visited.
Alfonso NobleReporting,
As BWSL workmen wade in what smells and appears to be sewer water in an effort to repair a broken main, all residents could do was cover their mouth and noses to avoid inhaling the fetid air. The stench was so intense that the Public Health department was called in.
Public Health Inspector,
“A nuisance exists because obviously you can smell the stench being given off and this is a residential area and people have to be living in that. Long term effects I am not sure at the moment but we will have to look into it. If there is in fact a broken main there that requires maintenance then it has to be fixed obviously but what could have been done or should have been done is that residents of the area should have been notified and told that this is situation right now and this is the action that we feel necessary to rectify the problem. And as I’ve mentioned before I feel that water should have been channeled back into the sewer pumps.”
But that is not what’s being done. The workmen are pumping the fetid water from the trench directly into the drains and residents say it is just simply not the thing to do and it may well be a health hazard.
Public Health Inspector,
“The water is being pumped into the surrounding drain and as you can see the drain is inadequate in this area. I believe what could have been done was, from a casual assessment, that water should have been led back into the sewer into the back than being pumped out like that.”
Area Resident
“They should have dug the street, attach a pipe onto the pump and lead it back into the dyke. Instead they lead it right back into the drains and now they want to run it all along the whole Faber’s Road. As you can see the stench out here is disgraceful. I have a business here. Eventually it is going to move over to my side and when it moves over here it is going to be disgraceful. I can take this from WASA anymore. I hate to have to give the big companies like WASA advice but what they should do now is put these pumps back into the drain and start pump it out into the big trucks and have the big trucks take it somewhere else. WE can’t have it in the drain. This could last in the drain for more than a month.”
Public Health Inspector,
“Obviously the water cannot be allowed to stay like this, this is unacceptable.”
It is more so because the residents say they have been unable to reach BWSL’s offices to get some relief.
Area Resident,
“I’ve been trying to reach WASA for the past 24 hours now and they don’t even want to answer their phones. It is high time now that we let the media get into this and see what is happening because that is the only way they will respond and do what they are supposed to do.”
But while we did get involved sad to say we too were unable to get comment from BWSL on a situation that literally stinks to high heaven.
Late this evening BWSL’s Sewer Project Manager Anthony Geban called to explain the situation. Geban says that indeed the pipe that's broken is a sewer main that leads to the treatment ponds on Faber’s Road. He says however that the foul smell does come from the pipe but is not accompanied by water. He explains that the water that is in the ditch is actually ground water. As for the concerns of residents, Geban says they will be completing their work tonight and by tomorrow they will pump fresh water into the area to dissipate any stench. He adds that they will also sanitize the area using chlorine and other chemicals.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited for the internet by Keith Swift