The problem area, an apparent raw sewage overflow, is just south of Walnut Street on Audelia.
Update: Monday 5:20 p.m. District 10 Councilman Adam McGough says he is disappointed in our city’s response to a complaint of a raw sewage leak near the intersection of Audelia and Walnut Street.
“Various city departments responded over the weekend, and notices of violation were issued; however, city sanitarians determined that the leaked liquid was not raw sewage. Based on the info given to my office, additional cleaning and abatement could not be completed due to the freezing temperatures.”
The city staff says no raw sewage made it to the street, he notes, “but several constituents have reported otherwise. If raw sewage was leaked, it is completely unacceptable to allow it to remain on our city streets for any extended amount of time.”
The site as of today has been disinfected and cleaned, but additional cleaning will take place with Dallas Water Utilities’ Pretreatment and Laboratory Services Division (PALS) who will work with the property owner to address any remaining issues.
My office will continue to monitor this issue and investigate the causes of any delay to determine if procedures were followed and if changes are warranted.
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Update: Monday 11:30 a.m. From the office of District 10 Councilman Adam McGough, Emily Worland tells us the source of the problem is at a private property, which Dallas Water Utilities has pinpointed. “Today, Dallas Water Utilities is working to expedite a solution,” she notes. “We do apologize for the inconvenience and certain unpleasantries. We do hope to have more tangible response later today.”
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Something stinks in our neighborhood.
Homeowners in northern Lake Highlands say raw sewage has been spilling into busy Audelia Road from the rear end of a restaurant and retail center along Walnut Street.
Neighbors say it’s been going on since mid-week last week. Those unfortunate enough to have driven through the sludge spilling down Audelia Road between Walnut and Trevor say they’ve inadvertently toted the sickening stuff back to their residential streets and garages.
Several, on a homeowner association forum, reported becoming nauseated or vomiting when they exited their cars.
“I drove through it [last week] … I thought a skunk died or I drove over a mouse in my garage after I parked my vehicle in the garage,” notes Paul Bierwagen, a County Forest-Jackson Meadow resident who gave us permission to post his photos and the information he says he gathered when he went to investigate.
The stench has been wafting — by way of sticking to vehicle wheels and high winds — into the Chimney Hill, Jackson Meadows, Woodbridge (where I live) and Whispering Hills subdivisions.
One neighbor reports cars splashing the sewage upon the sidewalk and even onto unfortunate pedestrians.
Several neighbors have reported the horror through 311, the Department of Health and our district 10 city council office, but as of Sunday night, there does not seem to be much improvement. In fact, 311 has “closed” several cases reported via the 311 app, due to “inability to locate,” which has left many incredulous.
We’ve reached out to the code compliance office, to which we were directed by the city of Dallas, and did receive a response over the weekend that the community prosecutor was “looking into it.”
Meanwhile Bierwagen, the brave soul, has a nose (not to mention the stomach) for gathering intel.
“… tracked all the way back behind the [Hong Hong Market] shopping center … There was a grease trap collection truck there hopefully cleaning out the filth that is draining down the alley onto and across Southbound Audelia median sewer drain,” he said last week.
Can Do, a sewage cleaning truck, was at the site last week. Paul Bierwagen
Bierwagen added later that on Saturday he saw a City of Dallas emergency response van in the alley behind Crab Station next to Bistro B.
“I talked the the city employee over the wall from the alley. He said the source is from a sewer lid behind one of the restaurants. The little clumps of debris is toilet paper. They will get a violation when they open today at noon, with 48 hours to resolve the matter.”
We will let you know when it is safe to travel northern Audelia; until then, it might make sense to steer clear if you can find another route.
