Hall County

Woman says sewer backup sent her daughter to hospital

By Justin Wilfon, WSB-TV
By Justin Wilfon, WSB-TV

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — A mother says repeated sewage leaks at her apartment has made her daughter sick. When she decided to move out, she said the apartment wanted her to pay thousands.

Channel 2 Action News got involved after the woman said the sewage problem was so bad that it made the whole family sick.

When Jennifer Griffin moved into the Edgewater Apartments in Gainesville, she never thought she would have raw sewage bubbling up into her apartment.

"I called emergency maintenance because it was disgusting. There was even toilet paper on the floor," Griffin told Channel 2's Justin Wilfon.

Griffin showed Wilfon photos and video of the sewage that burst out of her bathtub and across the floor in December.

“The bathtub, it backed up in and had toilet paper and feces,” Griffin said.

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While the maintenance crew did work to clean it up, Griffin said she and her two children faced other problems. All of them became sick, especially her 3-year-old daughter.

After multiple hospital visits Griffin said doctors eventually linked her daughter’s illness to the sewage.

“It was really hard because they poked her and prodded her and she screamed and cried,” Griffin said. 

Griffin told Wilfon that she decided she wanted out of the Edgewater on Lanier Apartments.

She ended up moving the family to Texas, but not before the apartments sent her a $4,000 bill for breaking her lease. 

“I was livid,” Griffin said. 

Wilfon called the apartment complex. A PR person eventually sent Wilfon a statement, saying, "Griffin and her family were moved to a hotel and she was offered the option to move to another apartment on site. She declined our offer."

But Griffin told Wilfon she didn’t want to risk seeing sewage again.

Griffin's daughter is now fine.

The apartment complex told Wilfon that after he called, they've now decided to waive the $4,000 bill.

Cox Media Group

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