BURLINGTON— The Franklin Square housing complex has a persistent dirty problem — wastewater backing up in sinks, out of buildings and, sometimes, pooling on the playground.
Greenish brown sewage has backed up into her sink about three times in the past six months, ruining the area underneath the sink and one of her kitchen cabinets, said Rebecca Aberl who has lived at the North End housing development for 27 years.
“It’s disgusting,” she said. “It’s literally sewer water in our kitchen sinks.”
Owned and managed by the Burlington Housing Authority, the Franklin Square development consists of 60 apartments in seven buildings around a playground in the North End. It is one of 32 properties owned or managed by the housing authority, which provides affordable or low-income rental housing and housing retention services in greater Burlington.
Residents and officials from the organization said wastewater leakage arises from residents improperly disposing of material such as oils, fats, toys and paper products down the drain, leading to blockages and backups. Officials said they are taking steps to more proactively address the problem this year.
When such backups occur, residents typically call the maintenance person or the company contracted by the housing authority to handle plumbing issues. But some residents said the response can be slow, especially after hours, and they’ve been frustrated by what they characterized as a years-long problem.
Emily Kennedy said she has contacted management about the issue several times in the past three years that she has lived at Franklin Square. When a neighbor’s apartment flooded, pieces of fecal matter and clumps of toilet paper came up, she said. The cause of the blockage then, she was told, was condoms and rubber gloves.
She is particularly concerned about recent wastewater leaks in the playground which is used by children of residents and by a HeadStart program, she said.
“People walk through it everyday and it’s the main play area for the kids here,” she said.
“The fact that Burlington Housing Authority has put off the serious and consistent issue of sewage is extremely concerning.”
Sandra Graves, director of Champlain Valley Head Start, which operates a preschool class at Franklin Square, confirmed there have been “a couple of instances” of wastewater pooling on the playground and plumbing blockage issues, one of which caused them to close for the day. But she was quick to say that Burlington Housing Authority has always been responsive and helpful.
“We have a great relationship with them and anytime that anything came up, they just jumped right in and came and fixed it,” she said. “Certainly, it has not impeded our programming there at all.”
While they cannot speak to active cases, the state Department of Environmental Conservation is currently investigating a complaint they received, a spokesperson confirmed.
Since taking over the housing authority’s building operations department in November, Jeffrey Metcalf said, “I have learned how persistent of a problem this is.”
Although the housing authority does provide a newsletter and a move-in packet informing residents about proper garbage disposal and how to care for their plumbing, the leaks happen throughout the year, Metcalf said, counting 11 incidents since November at various buildings.
The organization relies on a contracted cleaning company to address the leaks when they occur.
“I know every time there’s been a blockage, we as an organization have been extremely quick to respond and remedy the problem,” said Metcalf.
The housing authority has also begun to roll out a more robust preventative maintenance plan, said Steven Murray, its executive director. Murray shared a document Metcalf created outlining how wastewater servicing companies will conduct quarterly checks to clear the sewer lines in the units and outside the buildings and check them with a camera scope.
This would help give “a solid baseline of understanding any issues” and help identify and clear existing obstructions, at a cost of about $2,000 per building, Metcalf estimated.
This has already started happening at Franklin Square.
“We have implemented the new preventative maintenance procedures and recently worked with P&P Septic to complete the thorough cleaning and camera scoping of waste piping in the three most problematic buildings,” Metcalf said in an email.
Increased resident education using handouts, posters, email and conversations is also part of the plan. Those materials are in English, although residents can call a number or come to the Main Street office to request free interpretation in 10 languages.
“We realized, probably a couple of years ago, that we are reacting more than we should and that preventive maintenance was going to be our future,” Murray said.
The board in June approved creating a full-time position for a preventative maintenance administrator whose work would include making sure that the drain lines are clear and sewage backups are immediately handled.
Murray said he plans to make that hire soon.
“It’s important to know that we’re aware of the problem and that we’re trying to come up with a more robust preventative maintenance plan to address it,” Metcalf said. “And I think the tenant education — the additional effort put forth on that front — will make a big difference.”
