PALM SPRINGS, Fla. — Remnants from a sewage leak in a Palm Springs canal can still be found five days after the spill.
"I think they take too much time, I don't know what they doing, but it smells like terrible, terrible," Maria Ordaz, who lives houses down from where the spill happened, said. "When I go out of my house, I'm like, 'Oh my God. What's that smell?'"
She said she's trying to sell her home and now worries about the impact the spill will have on potential buyers.
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"Maybe the people come, and [they say], 'It smells like that, smells weird, so I don't know something is wrong here,'" Ordaz said.
Crews with Hinterland Group Inc. were at the scene and said they've been cleaning up the sewage for the last few days.
They told WPTV reporter Joel Lopez that it could take another week before the canal can be cleaned up.
Crews said that barricades were placed on both ends of the canal to contain and prevent the sewage from flowing down the canal.
Palm Springs village staff told WPTV that they have been able to contain the leak and repair the pipe, but there is no word on how much sewage escaped.
"Hopefully they take care of it as soon as possible and that nothing serious happens to the people in the community," business owner Stanley Jean said.
Jean owns Sunshine Income Tax Services, which is in a plaza just north of the canal.
"We got us. We got the restaurant. We got the liquor store. We got the Nature's Corner [Cafe]," Jean said. "Quite a few people are affected by this."
Jean said he learned about the spill from his employees.
He said that's because he lost his sense of smell from a concussion, and feels lucky he can't smell the sewage odor.
"Whenever something like this happens, there's always some kind of impact," Jean said. "It could be my family. I have a lot of clients in the area. It's just terrible what's happening."
The village said they are looking into any possible environmental impacts as the canals feed into area lakes.
They also said they're testing the water and installed aeration systems to help with the recovery process as remnants are still floating in the canal.
WPTV contacted the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, who released the following statement in part:
"Within the next five days, the Village of Palm Springs will submit a thorough summary report that includes a detailed description of the incident and the city's response, the amount of wastewater released and the water quality sampling results. This information will be used to inform DEP's ongoing regulatory review.
Protecting Florida's environment and the health and safety of our residents and visitors is DEP's top priority, and we take every unauthorized discharge seriously."
- Brian Miller
Press Secretary, Florida Department of Environmental Protection
