Residents call on city to investigate ‘bubbling cesspool’ at unoccupied home
By Leo Stallworth
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LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Residents in a Del Rey neighborhood are disgusted and in search of answers as a giant hole full of waste in front of an abandoned home continues to cause a noxious odor.
“It’s sewer water,” said one resident who wished to remain anonymous. “I can’t even be outside at night.”
The property has become a “biohazard,” according to neighbors, calling the hole a “bubbling cesspool.”
The home has been unoccupied for more than three years.
Neighbors told Eyewitness News whenever they use their plumbing, sewer water reportedly spews from the hole, emanating a foul odor.
Some of the residents say they’re getting sick from it.
“I feel sorry for [the person next door] because it just blows right in his windows,” said Kathleen Reid-Villa, who lives just across the street from the abandoned home.
She said she gets a strong dose of the odor whenever she crosses the street.
“My dog is sick, I feel sick,” said the resident who wished to remain anonymous. “I’ve tried to talk to everyone who is listed under city services from sanitation to wastewater management. Wastewater Management came out, went into a manhole and called me back to say it wasn’t a systemic problem.”
Eyewitness News spoke with the Los Angeles Department of Public Works who said if there’s a sewage problem on private property, it’s up to the owner of the property to address the issue, not the city.
ABC7 searched for the property owner, which was listed as Green Lotus Group LLC. Eyewitness News put in a call to the business but did not receive a response.
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