Residents raising a stink brings results on sewage odor

Residents in the Summerfield area noticed something missing from their neighborhood Sunday evening. It was the sickening odor of a sewage basin 150 yards from their homes that they had been complaining about to Terrebonne Parish officials for more than a year.

“I was out of town a couple of days, but I haven’t smelled it since the day they introduced the microbes,” said Artie Angeron who coordinated dozens of his neighbors into a coalition that captured the attention of Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet and members of the parish council last week when efforts to deal with various department staffers failed to produce satisfactory results.

Last week, the parish council appropriated $350,000 for a multi-stage effort to eliminate odor from, and clean up, the 2-acre Southdown No. 2 holding basin that was showing raw sediment above the water surface.

The first step was taken when an odor-eating bacteria was introduced to the pond last Wednesday. One of the next steps will include dredging the pond to clean sediment that has been collecting for an undetermined amount of time. The only problem with that, according to Angeron, is that the process to examine pond conditions, secure bids and get crews actually working could take up to six months.

“There is no question that immediate action is needed,” Claudet said after meeting with neighborhood residents.

District 6 Councilman Kevin Voisin voiced concern that nothing had been done about the problem before now. “The first time I was called about this was about three weeks ago,” Voisin said. “It is gut-wrenching. Something needs to be done.”

“Our complaints never got past the bottom tier of government,” Angeron said. “I’ve got documentation dating back to 2008 and have been complaining longer than that.”

Voisin invited Summerfield residents to hold parish officials accountable to make sure the job is properly completed.

Media reported on the basin condition nearly 10 months ago when residents of the 14-year-old subdivision of $240,000 to $300,000 homes initiated their concerns.

Since then some homeowners contend that fumes from the basin have caused illness among children. Others fear if conditions were left unattended, the odor would have an adverse impact on property values as well as their quality of life.

The Southdown No. 2 holding basin, southwest of Valhi Boulevard and between Hollywood Road and St. Charles Street, was built in 1975, and at the time was considerably farther from residential structures.

During the past 36 years, the area in question has seen an influx of 13 residential and business developments, but no increases in sewage handling capabilities.

In September 2010, parish officials discussed purchasing land adjacent to the pond that had once been a sugar mill treatment pond to expand sewage capacity for the area. Achieving that goal could take another five years to accomplish. “We can’t wait another five years,” Angeron said.

Louisiana Title 51 specifies that it is illegal for a sewage holding basin to become a public nuisance to neighbors or present a public health hazard. This is a condition that Summerfield residents claim has been present for an extended amount of time.

“I think the parish needs to talk to their attorney and consider bypassing the drawn-out bid process to dredge this pond and take some emergency action right away to mitigate the situation,” Angeron said.

“Thank you, guys, for supporting this,” Voisin said to fellow council members once funding was established for the sewage basin project.

Angeron said he does not believe a few days of rain assisted in reducing the odor. “I think the [bacteria] did it,” he said. “They never done that before that I know of. That’s not the complete solution. They still need to dredge it even if they can control the odor for the short term. So far, I’m greatly encouraged because I haven’t smelled sewage.”

Armed with three years of documentation, Artie Angeron looks over what has not been accomplished as a two acre sewage holding pond stirs raw material and emits fumes that area homeowners contend not only disrupts their quality of life, but could be behind some reported illnesses. MIKE NIXON