Atlanta

Shop owners fed up with sewage pouring into businesses

ATLANTA — With days of rain in the forecast, some business owners are feeling anxious because raw sewage pours into their buildings whenever it rains.

The owners of a gym along Marietta Boulevard showed Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes picture of toxic waste covering the floor when we had several rainy days in April.

The same thing happened to several businesses around it.

Business owners say the combination of too much rain and sewage becomes too much for old pipes in the area to handle, shooting out into their businesses.

“A fountain of raw sewage basically comes up 10 to 15 feet and splashes into the creek,” business owner Nils Onsager said showing Fernandes what happens when it rains. “Down at the bottom you can see where toilet paper basically splashed out.”

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The overflow goes into a nearby creek which feeds into the Chattahoochee River.

Atlanta Watershed officials posted a warning about the sewage, but the people affected by the waste say Watershed isn’t doing anything about it.

“They usually say, ‘Talk to the mayor. Talk to somebody else. Don’t talk to us. We’re monitoring this not necessarily dealing with it,’” business owner Christy Campbell said.

When Fernandes stopped by Atlanta Watershed to speak to someone about the situation, they said they’re aware of the problem and they’re actively taking steps to fix it.

But people who have been running businesses down in the area for 20 years say the problems have been going on that long.

“We had to shut down here a few times because of it,” Onsager said.