Yesterday's Photo Opp, Today's Environmental Hazard

Where Are the Cameras Now?

A little over a month ago this 3rd street area was filled with volunteers, cameras and excitement. Now that the cameras, the private corporations, volunteers and cameras are gone, this area has developed into something quite unwholesome. Workers came in with a backhoe and excavated the water line. In doing this they damaged the sewer. The backhoe is still abandoned at the site. Parents spend the day warning their children to stay off the dangerous piece of excavation machinery. One wonders where the  idea for all this unnecessary digging originated. The marker for the water line is clearly visible. It seems they wanted to run the line over to the east side of the garden in front of the old entrance to MacKay Park. The idea was that they would put the spigot or faucet inside the shed. I guess they thought folks would steal water if it was in the open. They were attempting to put down a water line for the garden so people would not be forced to walk. The magnificent thing about neighborhoods that are invested in a project is that they would have carried water to their beds. They were already doing so. It was something they were beginning to do together. 

Did anyone ask the residents how they would deal with watering the garden plots? I wonder. This is a swamp area. It is lowlands. The people here know that the need for water to be carried to beds like this would only arise in time of drought. 

What ever happened to the idea of calling the water, gas, or the city planner to find out where the sewer lines are? They are always warning us not to dig in our own backyards. Why did the digging go so deep? Was this an inexperienced worker/volunteer? Did anyone ever check into the requirements of what can and cannot go within 25 feet of the shoulder of streams that are located in the flood hazard area? The sewer pipe is pre-update of the law. This digging is not. Take this post as Fair warning to companies bringing construction into the 4th ward. Do the research before coming to dig in the 4th ward. How long is this gaping hole going to remain an "attractive" nuisance to the children in the immediate vicinity? The young man pictured in the black hoodie w/yellow lettering fell in yesterday while trying to get his soccer ball. The soccer ball remained while he ran screaming and entirely soaked by sewage into his mother's arms. He is very lucky to be alive. The soccer ball was still in the water. His mother refused to allow him near the trench again. The ball was retrieved by the family while I took this photograph. 

From now on things like this will not be allowed to
simmer so long in our neighborhood.

The trench is deeper than some of the children are tall. It is not covered at all. The gaping, smelly, mosquito attraction is about half filled with sewage and water. It is stinking up the area. The first very hot day is going to cook the contents into a really foul funk factory.

Make a pact with neighbors to make the calls.

Only in our Ward would this have been allowed to go so
long. It stops now.

When is it going to be covered? When is the line going to be fixed? We know. You have created an expense where there was none. The 3rd Street Community Garden is contaminated. Any further planting should be done only with flowers or shrubbery. Research should be done to determine when the ground will be clean again. It should become a lesson for children, but it won't. There are no cameras to point out mistakes. Is there a real need for that water line? To whom was the bill being sent anyway?