Raw sewage raises stink
Residents at The Landing say overflow 'appalling' as county assures
new basin will help

By John Marks Lake Wylie Pilot
(Published September 12‚ 2006)

LAKE WYLIE -- If it can be flushed down the toilet, it likely has been
found in Tom Sharp's yard.
Tom and his wife Marci, who live in The Landing in Lake Wylie, have
had the problem for a while now. Tom has thrown up in his driveway
three times from the smell alone. And that's before the rain comes.
"In the 21st Century, that's appalling," he said. "It's unfathomable
that it would happen."
The Sharps are among several homeowners living near Mill Pond lift
station, a sewage facility servicing nearby River Hills. During hard
rains, like the one earlier this month that brought between six and
eight inches of rain to the Lake Wylie area, the station overflows and
pours gallon after gallon of raw sewage into the street and
neighboring yards.
"Flooding is one thing," said Kent Raker, neighbor who videotaped the
station overflowing during the most recent storm. "That's
understandable. But getting this every time it rains two inches,
that's just unacceptable."
Neighbors say the pump station not only overflows during hard rains,
but also gives off an odor in the morning and afternoon. Residents are
frustrated with the system they say can be timed directly to morning
showers and evening dinners in River Hills.
"It doesn't serve us," Raker said. "It serves River Hills. We get the
best parts of River Hills coming down our way."
Marci Sharp has been in constant discussion with York County and
Carolina Water Service Inc. leaders about the lift station with little
success, she said. Both the county and private company place
responsibility for maintenance on the other, she said.
"It's just been a nightmare, an absolute nightmare for more than a
year," she said.
The most recent occurrence actually caused so much pressure that a
bolted sewer cover was broken out of the ground. Residents are
concerned with property values and health and safety issues, along
with the storm drain that rests near the station.
"It goes directly into the lake," Marci Sharp said.
The station has been in place for about 30 years. Each time a
substantial rain comes -- including three times so far this year -- a
light begins flashing and horns sound, Raker said. Residents blame an
obsolete system that was made to handle a much smaller load.
"It's totally obsolete for the demand it's experiencing now," Tom
Sharp said. "It's a biohazard sitting right in your back yard."
David Hughes, supervisor for the water and sewer department for York
County, said help is on the way, though residents will have to be
patient. A 400,000 gallon equalization basin that is being constructed
near Crowders Creek School is designed to make area pump stations such
as the one at Mill Pond obsolete.
"Several lift stations, ours and a couple of Carolina Water's, were
just overwhelmed," Hughes said of the incident, which he said
coincided with an unusually hard rain as the result of a tropical
storm. "It's not dangerous, but it's just an unfortunate situation."
Currently, waste travels from River Hills to Mill Pond, then to a
facility near Campbell Road and on to Rock Hill. With the new
equalization basin, both the Mill Pond and Campbell Road facilities
would be taken out of the equation. Targets for completion of the new
facility have ranged from October to Thanksgiving, but Hughes said a
safe estimate would be the beginning of 2007.
"If we can have it online by Jan. 1, we'll be very pleased," he said.
For residents, that means hoping no hard rains fall between now and
then. Though the county has a plan in place, residents are still
angered it's taken so long to respond.
"Human feces going down the road and nobody does anything," Tom Sharp
said. "It's disgusting."
Hughes, who has been with the water and sewer department since before
the recent population booms in York County, said his department is
doing its best to keep up with concerns throughout the area. Updated
systems are seeing improvements throughout the county, including a
bigger force main and new water lines, he said.
"The demographics require us to update the system," Hughes said.
The county is in good shape, Hughes said, and residents at The Landing
will have their concerns dealt with soon.
"I don't think anybody really anticipated the pace of development," he
said.