West Monroe Residents Angered By Sewage Backup
By: Janice Park
Updated: October 14, 2009
Imagine not being able to flush your toliet for 5 days.
That's the nightmare some West Monroe residents say they're dealing with.
But is the rain to blame or a faulty sewer system.
In a quiet West Monroe neighborhood, police officers and businessmen alike have become photographers. Documenting a 6 month nightmare of gushing manholes, toliet paper and backed up sewage: "It's overflowing toliet paper, sewer water into this pond, it's bubbling up out of here," says Richard Poole. Poole says anytime it rains, that bubbling mess shoots as much as 2 feet out of this manhole.
But Poole says what it does to their homes is the real problem. To see for ourselves, we took a short walk back to Poole's home: "I haven't been able to flush my toliet in 5 days". Poole says there isn't enough air freshner in Louisiana to help his cause. But what makes him angrier than the smell, is the city's response: "They say we'll help you the city just has to get money they say they got other problems in the city".
Poole and his neighbors believe West Monroe's sewer system is faulty. Because they deal with this problem almost monthly. City officials we spoke to Wednesday blame the back up on excessive rains. But for residents like Richard Poole, he says that answer smells funny.
In a quiet West Monroe neighborhood, police officers and businessmen alike have become photographers. Documenting a 6 month nightmare of gushing manholes, toliet paper and backed up sewage: "It's overflowing toliet paper, sewer water into this pond, it's bubbling up out of here," says Richard Poole. Poole says anytime it rains, that bubbling mess shoots as much as 2 feet out of this manhole.
But Poole says what it does to their homes is the real problem. To see for ourselves, we took a short walk back to Poole's home: "I haven't been able to flush my toliet in 5 days". Poole says there isn't enough air freshner in Louisiana to help his cause. But what makes him angrier than the smell, is the city's response: "They say we'll help you the city just has to get money they say they got other problems in the city".
Poole and his neighbors believe West Monroe's sewer system is faulty. Because they deal with this problem almost monthly. City officials we spoke to Wednesday blame the back up on excessive rains. But for residents like Richard Poole, he says that answer smells funny.
