MOYOCK, N.C. (WAVY) — Eleven days without a sewer system is 11 days too long for the residents of the Eagle Creek neighborhood in Moyock. About 440 homes have been affected.
We began covering this story on Monday, when residents were on day nine without a sewer system. Since then, people who live there say no progress has been made to fix the problem.
“It is very frustrating. At first I was kind of compassionate and understanding and now I’m just, if you could see smoke coming out of my ears, that’s how frustrated am. I’m just angry over the whole situation,” said resident Stephanie Harlow.
The issue is the suction system that utilizes sewage pits is not functioning, leaving residents with sewage back-ups into their homes. Until the problem is fixed, anything involving running water and a drain cannot be used.
People are still relying on family and friends for basic needs like showers and laundry.
Tuesday night, port-a-potties were placed in central locations around Eagle Creek to provide some relief. But neighbors are not thrilled with that Band-Aid.
“To have to leave your house in the middle of the night if you have to go to the bathroom is not ok,” said Harlow.
“I appreciate the thought, but at 38 weeks pregnant I don’t think it’s a fair expectation on me to be going to a port-a-potty in a pandemic,” explained another resident, Kristin Rife.
The local YMCA offered their showers for people to use, however, the facility is 20 minutes away from the neighborhood.
We spoke with the president of the homeowner’s association for Eagle Creek. He said he’s in contact with the lieutenant governor. They just had a teleconference with state leaders and experts to work out how to get this fixed and fixed soon.
The utility is owned by Sandler Utilities in Virginia Beach. A company called Envirolink manages the services. Neither could be immediately reached by the time of this article’s publication.
Residents say the companies are reporting progress on the problem, but the reports aren’t accurate.
“The last email we got last night from Envirolink stated 200 houses are online and fully functioning. Which was then followed by another email from David Shepard, the vice president of our homeowner’s association, who said that email is not true. [He] actually just came from working out in the field, talking with techs that are going from house to house, checking their pits to see if there’s any equipment that is wrong, and they’re telling people that the map is not correct, please do not use water,” said Harlow.
Currituck County officials said Wednesday that Envirolink had estimated about 183 homes were still without wastewater service.
Residents say Envirolink has finally brought in out-of-state experts top troubleshoot the problem. Those experts were set to arrive Wednesday.
On Wednesday afternoon, Currituck County also announced it would step in to aid the residents in the neighborhood due to the “operational failure of a private utility.”
County residents attended Monday’s Currituck County Board of Commissioners meeting to voice their concerns about what was happening in Eagle Creek.
Currituck County has coordinated with the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management, NC Baptists on Mission, Currituck County Schools, Envirolink Inc., and the Eagle Creek Homeowners Association to deliver mobile shower and laundry facilities to the neighborhood.
The shower trailer will have six stalls, and the laundry trailer will have eight units. They will be at Moyock Middle School.
The trailers will be disinfected by volunteers to comply with COVID-19 precautions.
The mobile showers and laundry will be in service as soon as possible, the county said.
The Soil and Water Conservation District in keeping track of the drainage ditches in the area around the neighborhood to see if any contaminants show up related to the utility failure. As of Wednesday, no contaminants were detected.
Eagle Creek residents who have concerns regarding property damage or sewage cleanup should call Envirolink Inc. customer service at 888-754-9878.