Albany apartment complex draws fresh complaints

ALBANY — The smell of spilled sewage returned to an Albany apartment complex in recent days, but the operators have assured the city a fix is on the way.

“There’s still water (standing) with a stinky smell,” said one resident at the 500 Pinson Road East Lake complex who did not want to give her name, fearing retaliation for speaking to the media.

On some days, the resident said, the odor even permeates the inside of her apartment, and sitting outside is impossible. And the problem has been ongoing for more than five years, she said.

After the city of Albany reported the spill in early August to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, the owners installed a temporary pump that seemed to prevent the standing water and reduced the smell. However, the odor returned a couple of weeks ago, the resident said.

On Monday water was still standing, City Commissioner Jon Howard said.

“You can really tell the stench is raw sewage,” he said. “I just told the residents we have to let Engineering and Code Enforcement (Departments) just put EPD on notice and let them set a deadline.”

When the apartments were built in the 1970s, they were located in a location in unincorporated Dougherty County that has since been incorporated into the city. The complex has its own sewage system with a lift station that pumps sewage into the city’s sewage system.

Repairs began at about noon on Tuesday, Code Enforcement Director Nathaniel Norman said. The owner of the apartments has contracted with a company to replace the pump.

An exterior pump is being used temporarily to move the sewage to another station about 100 feet away, from where it will flow into the city’s system, he said.

“The solution is when the pump gets built and is received and ready to be installed,” Norman said.

“They’re doing the repairs. I’m not sure about the (timeline) of completion.

“It’s a new company at that location, and they are taking more aggressive steps in making repairs. Installation of the new pump should fix these issues.”

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