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Oct 21, 2009 11:15 pm US/Central
Residents Worry More Rain Means More Sewage Leaks
WILMER (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
The rain has residents in one North Texas town afraid to let their children outside.
People who live in one Wilmer neighborhood dread the ongoing rainstorms, but not for the usual reasons.
They fear another sewage spill like one they experienced last month that led to nauseating fumes and toxic water running through a local creek.
Residents showed CBS 11 how Cottonwood Creek flooded after the last round of heavy rains.
During those rains a sewage line ruptured, filling the creek with black water and used hygiene products that had been flushed down toilets.
The creek runs parallel to many homes. "You can just smell the sewer throughout the city in the old part of town," says Wilmer resident Hector Pena.
Town officials checked out the problem and spent $10,000 replacing old pipes that led to the a rupture.
"We pumped the creek out into our sewer system then we replaced the line where the line was broken and we shouldn't have any more problems out of that," says Wilmer water superintendent Anthony Surratt.
But some residents worry that the recent weather will lead to another toxic mess and keeping the children away from a nearby playground.
"They could get some kind of disease or some kind of infection," says Juanita Martinez, a neighborhood resident and mother of three young children, "Most of the time they're upset because I won't let them go out. I make them stay inside do their homework or watch TV. I have to buy movies so I can keep them inside."
As of Wednesday evening, there have been no reports of any problems with the repairs by the city.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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