Monday, June 17, 2013

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Call 4 Action - Septic tank leaves vet's home smelling like sewage
Posted: 12.17.2010 at 6:50 PM
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A man living in Monte Alto is fed up with living with a septic tank near his home that he said has backed up and overflowed many times.

"I can't live like this with that smell," said Marshall Lewis.

Marshall Lewis is a 64-year-old disabled Vietnam Veteran.

He's lived in this trailer for 15 years, but he said during the past four months, the septic tank next to his trailer constantly gets backed up and overflows.

He said with time, the humidity of the feces piled up under the trailer, has crumbled the trailer floor.

"You see, these old trailers, they have that particle board floor and it's just crumbling," said Lewis.

Lewis said he's had to nail boards to the floor because he's afraid he'll fall through the original floor that's crumbling.

He said the drain line is clogged and that's what's causing the septic tank to overflow, and because of all the problems he's had with this, he said he hasn't paid rent for three months.

Lewis said the drain line needs to get cleaned and inspected for a possible break, and he said until the landlord gets that done, he's not going to pay his rent.

"She threatened to evict me because I'm three months behind on payment, well, they haven't fixed this," said Lewis.

Lewis said if he gets evicted, he'll go, but he doesn't know where.

"I have nowhere to go," he said. "I have no family no more."

But he won't go without a fight.

He said if nothing gets done, he'll file a complaint with the Hidalgo County Health Department.

"We would be happy to go out and assess the situation and give recommendations on what needs to be done," said Eddie Olivarez, chief administrative officer of the Hidalgo County Health Department.

Olivarez said it's important for the owner to get this resolved.

"If it continues to be a problem, our health inspectors can go out and issue a citation to the homeowner," said Olivarez.

And the owner would have to go before a judge, so Olivarez recommends the owner resolve this issue before it gets into the court system.

Action 4 News did pay the owner a visit, but she wasn't home.

We left word for her to contact us, so that we can get her side of the story.

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