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DEKALB COUNTY, Ga (WGCL) — One day after a metro Atlanta family discovered a massive hole under their home from a broken sewer line, now CBS46 is learning it’s a much bigger problem than originally thought.
Ellen Yankee described the sewer saga in her neighborhood as a bunch of you know what.
“The first time it happened was six or seven years ago,” Yankee said.
She said it’s unclear whether the sinkhole which has formed in her front yard has impacted the foundation of her home.
“We had a sinkhole to start with and that turned out to be another sewer leak,” Yankee said.
The Yankee’s said county officials told them about six months ago that they would be re-rerouting the sewer line away from their home, but that never happened.
“I’m the optimist in the family I said to my husband it’s okay I’m sure they’ll do it within the next six months. He said ‘yes, hold your breath’,” Yankee said.
Meanwhile across the street, the Hill family was told by the county that a deep hole which formed under their home did not compromise the foundation.
“I’m so frustrated with them, it’s unbelievable how frustrated I am with them,” Georgia Hill said.
So, she hired an independent engineer who came to a different conclusion stating that the foundation has been compromised and will require stabilization.
“I’m hoping our lawyer is the person we can trust, it’s not the county,” Hill said.
“They’re having to spend huge amounts of money to fix this, but I can’t help but think they could have done it a long, long time ago and probably saved themselves some money by not having these endless crises,” Yankee said.
The sewer line was installed out here in the late 1940’s and these homes were built on top of it in the early 1950’s.
So, what is the county going to do about it now? Officials are waiting to get permission from the homeowners to make repairs and re-route the line.
CBS46 was also told that dye testing was done on the line and no other homes on Clairmont Circle were impacted. That said, the county is in the process of reviewing data to determine if this is a problem in other areas.
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