BUFFALO, N.Y. — Any driver on Broadway Street might’ve thought the water running down the street was just rain, but get close and take one sniff, and they’d learn its source is anything but a cloud.
2 On Your Side received tips that a pipe outside Engine 22 on Buffalo’s East Side was draining water that smelled like sewage. We had a sample of the water tested at a local lab over the weekend and learned Monday that it contained levels of fecal coliform 10 times the EPA’s recommended levels for body contact (2,149 CFU/100 ml).
“It's very disgusting,” said Linda Geska, who lives four blocks from the pipe. “That’s really unsanitary. … I just wish they would clean it up. Hopefully, they would attend to it and clean this up so nobody gets sick.”
2 On Your Side spoke with multiple businesses in the area that said they were unaware of the raw sewage coming out feet from their front doors.
But Vincent Ventresca, the President of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 282 union, said the pipe has been flowing for two months.
He said it was a move originally made by the city as a temporary fix after the fire hall filed a complaint about the sewers backing up.
“The City has been and is well aware of this issue,” Ventresca said in a statement.
“Local 282 and the members have made them aware of this issue. We have been doing everything in our power to get them to fix this and a plethora of critical issues at fire houses to no avail.”
After numerous attempts to speak with a city official, 2 On Your Side received an update from a city spokesperson in a statement, saying that “the city is in the process of repairing the lateral sewer line to the main line and is attempting to expedite the work.”
This is a developing story and will be updated when more information is available.