Woman says she has dealt with raw sewage in her yard for years
By Deja Brown
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NEW ORLEANS (WDSU) — An overflow of unmentionables accompanied by an odor that’s becoming unbearable, all caused by a broken sewer pipe in Gentilly.
One woman, who asked to only be referenced as Ms. Brown, says she has dealt with the terrible smell from the broken pipe for years and dreads opening her front door.
“It’s a sewerage smell. Which smells like sour, stink, stench,” Ms. Brown said.
The stinky odor was brought on by a bigger problem on Odin Street.
“I would see feces on my lawn, I would see toilet paper on my lawn and this was an everyday occurrence. Because it just kept running out, running out and overflowing,” Ms. Brown said.
The raw sewage can be seen coming from a big hole in Ms. Brown’s yard.
“And I’m like, ‘OK, I have no water on in my house, I don’t where the water was coming from.’ But this was every day,” Ms. Brown said. “I called Sewerage and Water Board to come out with the vac truck and they came out and the hose got stuck in the line because the thing (the pipe) is broken down under the ground.”
Ongoing construction on her street has prevented the Sewerage and Water Board from fixing the problem.
“Now, when I called Sewerage and Water Board, they said that job is to be contracted out. But they can’t tell you who the contractor is. But in the meantime, we still have to endure this here,” Ms. Brown said.
Ms. Brown says over the years, she has requested multiple invoices for the jobs on the property.
“I wanted to see how many times, so I counted 25 times. So this is 25-plus. For the same address, for the same situation,” Ms. Brown said. “Nobody cares at Sewerage and Water Board. They don’t. And I just think it’s a shame that we have to live like this, daily. So I just think something needs to be done. So that’s why I called Channel 6, Ms. Road Patrol, Ms. Deja Brown to come out here and assist me in this situation to get me some satisfaction.”
Ms. Brown said the only way she would be satisfied is if the matter gets resolved.
“Get this ground taken up, this street taken up because they have to take a portion of the street up because the pipe is underground,” Ms. Brown said.
WDSU Road Patrol reached out to the Sewerage and Water Board as well as the Department of Public Works but has not received a response.
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