ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – For months, residents who live on and around Sontag Road have been dealing with an unsafe sewage system. Now, St. Louis County has issued an order to vacate. Residents have days before officials will take more action.
The unmaintained sewage system is a major concern, as it sits next to many residents and several local waterways. Last week, nothing was blocking the big hole of raw sewage. A concern residents have, especially with children in the neighborhood. On Friday, nearly a week after FOX 2 first reported the problem, stakes and lots of yellow tapes surrounded the eight-by-eight hole.
David Wrone, the public information manager for the St. Louis County Public Works Department, said they were shocked to see what the site looked like just days ago.
“Anytime you’ve got open air and human waste on-site…. That is obviously about as serious as you can get,” Wrone said.
It’s a realization the Public Properties Division said they discovered days ago. However, according to long-time resident Bill Cochran, who lives right next to the sewage, this situation was a “classic case of them passing a buck.”
Cochran said he issued his first complaint to the department nearly a year ago. County Councilman Mark Harder, who has been pushing for something to be done, said the problem stems beyond just this property.
“We have a large problem with problem properties throughout the county,” Harder said.
According to Wrone, “We receive a fair number of complaints.”
As of right now, they’re dealing with about 1,200 filed complaints. Wrone said they have only two teams of two people, which is currently the size of the problem properties department.
The complaints ranged from a variety of issues.
“You’ve got derelict vehicles. Trash strewn all over the front yard, overgrown grass, collapsing gutters,” Wrone said.
“To help the county allocated money to its budget, we’ve increased their budget, we’ve increased their staff, we’ve created designated lawyers,” Harder said.
He said it could take time for them to completely budget the funds and find an efficient system that allows them to handle situations.
“I’m very surprised that they did not take a more aggressive stance on this as it developed,” Harder said.
When they did act, it was a brief time before a notice was posted on the property, ordering those who live there to vacate immediately. It comes after the property was found to be violating several health and safety standards.
“The owner is gonna either have to repair the septic system or we’re gonna do it ourselves,” Wrone said.
They have told Cochran, “Seven days to get that thing pumped out.” If they don’t, then the county will step in and clear the waste.
“We need to act on things before they get too big,” Harder said.
Wrone said when it comes to ownership of the property, it’s now in the hands of the attorney’s office to decide.
Cochran said he is just happy that after months, it has finally been taken care of.
“I think we made some noise,” he said.