Andrews – The Western North Carolina Wagon Train nearly canceled its yearly Independence Day expedition through town due to a raw sewage leak at a local trailer park.
A sewer line at Sherrill Mobile Home Park off Main Street has been clogged for at least a month, according to residents, who say the recurring problem affects their quality of life.
“When it gets hot, you can’t stand it down here,” local resident Wayne Taylor said. “The smell gets in my bedroom.”
Indeed, the smell of raw sewage was unbearable Thursday, when the Cherokee Scout toured the property. A small pond of sewage had formed directly behind a trailer on Higdon Loop. Meanwhile, leaked sewage had created a swamp among tall grass adjacent to a trailer positioned a few hundred feet away from the pond.
One local resident, who lives with two young children, said sewage once entered his home through the bathtub.
“It bubbled up a little bit and we [used a plunger] to push it back down,” Levi Jones said.
Rain reportedly exacerbates the problem, causing sewage to flow into Tatham Creek, which merges with Valley River. The Wagon Train nearly canceled the ride through Andrews this month due to the possibility of raw sewage contaminating the river.
“A mobile home park with as many residents that are in here is going to have sewer and water problems. It’s an ongoing thing, but most of the time it’s pretty simple [to fix],” property manager Gary Stroud said, while explaining that he contacted several contractors who were unable to accept the job due to workloads in other jurisdictions. “These sewer lines are old and deteriorating.”
Stroud said the problem mostly stems from residents flushing personal hygiene items down the toilet. He said the sewer lines were built in such a way that clogging from one home often results in clogging at another trailer. The problem worsened when someone recently drove a vehicle through a yard and damaged a section of sewer line not covered by concrete.
The property is owned by the estate of Maurice Sherrill, who died two years ago today. The 52-lot mobile home park is under contract with a buyer.
“We are hoping to close at the end of the month,” said Frank Jones, executor of the estate. “As far as we know, it’s still going to happen. We want to have this problem fixed by then. I don’t think it will hold up the sale.”
As of the Scout’s press time Tuesday, the Wagon Train still plans to be in town from June 26 through July 4. The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, Cherokee County Health Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been notified about sewage potentially leaking into the creek.
“We believe that any sewage and rainfall runoff into the creek has been minimal,” Mayor James Reid said. “We expect testing to be done this week.”
Last year, Andrews received more than $1.8 million from the Community Development Block Grant program to replace dilapidated sewer lines throughout Higdon Mobile Home, Dick Higdon Mobile Home and Sherrill Mobile Home properties. Officials say all three properties continually experience clogs and leaks, resulting in septic backups in the yard outside the homes. Work is expected to begin next year.