Received yesterday. -jsq
Continue readingDate: Sun, 24 Mar 2013 15:43:47 -0400
All, just so everyone is on the same page- the sewer line is currently spilling sewage. It just started at mu house but has been going strong at sugar creek for awhile by the looks of it. Here are some current pictures as of 3:30 today. It will get worse until the river crests..
Gabe
Some interesting questions have come up in
Gabe Fisher's continuing correspondence with the City of Valdosta
about
sewage in his back yard
and
under his house,
while
City Council Tim Carroll continues to respond,
both copying a long list of people.
From: Gabe Fisher
Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2013 14:23:12 -0500All, I appreciate the update on where the city stands on moving the sewer all together—I just wish we had been kept informed of the plans over the last 4 years. Living with the *real* threat of flooding is stressful enough, add in the guaranteed associated sewage spill is more than I can handle.
I also appreciate the city workers spreading lime and working on the sewer line behind my house today. But I have questions—What about the sewage in my yard and under my house? Is this my responsibility?
Thanks, Gabe
Tim Carroll responded with a couple of suggestions:
Continue reading
As
he indicated yesterday,
Gabe Fisher got his sewage-covered neighborhood on WCTV last night.
Greg Gullberg wrote for WCTV yesterday, Valdosta Neighborhood Covered In Raw Sewage,
After days of torrential rain, the same rain that caused the rivers to flood, the sewage pump has been overwhelmed in the Meadow Brook Subdivison just off Gornto Road.
“You know how bad it smells in a bathroom when someone goes in and uses a public restroom. Multiple that ten times,” said Chad Harrison, a local resident.
The whole area behind their houses is just covered in raw sewage. Your boots sink down into it with every step. We’re talking everything from human waste, to toilet paper, to hygiene products and a whole other list of things that are just too graphic to mention.
“Probably about 12 to 14 inches of raw sewage,” said Harrison. “It’s just everywhere. It’s all up and down the creek. It’s all behind everybody’s houses.”
There’s more in
the WCTV story,
such as that the city has included neighbors in meetings, but has not
yet changed anything.
The city’s PR about the flooding
says:
Tim Carroll’s response to Gabe Fisher. -jsq
Continue readingGabe,
I know you are frustrated and pissed. My hope was with the info below all could see the city has not just been idly sitting by. What has been so frustrating for us is that our biggest problem is outside of the city limits.
As discussed below, we are about 90% complete on the design for the big force main project. Once completed it will eliminate the sewage spills during high rain events in your neighborhood.
Just spoke with Larry Hanson and the WWTP is firing back up as we speak. Soon you should start seeing the current spills end as the system is brought fully back up and running.
Something I might add we could not have done so quickly had we not taken the steps we did these past several days.
In regards to clean up —
Received today in response to Tim Carroll’s email.
All, Gabe Fisher here—2420 Meadow Brook. I do not currently have the time, nor mental capacity to fully think through this issue, but I want you all to see what the sewer system is currently doing to our backyards. This video was taken today, in by backyard, after the flood. It has been spilling at least at this same rate for the last 7 days.
What the sewer system is currently doing to our backyards —Gabe Fisher
Video by Gabe Fisher, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 3 March 2013.This contaminated water breached my crawlspace, around 24″ deep, and must absolutely be dealt with ASAP. What is the city going to do for me, and my neighbors who are in this same situation??
There is no other word for it—I am pissed. I have seen zero results since the flood in 2009. Yes, maybe receiving 12″ inches of rain is an act of God, but that does not account for all the man made structures that force the flood waters higher at my location, nor other obstacles it must overcome to quickly and efficiently escape our area—such as the train trestle along Gornto. And it absolutely does not account for the city’s poorly planned sewer system..
This isn’t the first sewage spill since the flood of 2009—there have been countless others in my area. I have photos and video evidence of at least 5 that would likely be classified as ‘major’.
This cannot and will not be ‘swept under the rug’.. I am still currently upside down on my property due to the flood of 2009 and this current flood has only further degraded my property’s value.
Gabe
Looking at his address in the Lowndes County Tax Assessor’s maps, and turning on Flood Map, Lakes and Rivers, and Aerial Photos, you can see that his property and most of all his neighbors’ lots are in the flood plain:
Continue reading