HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Many drivers can expect to see water or debris on the road during a commute, but raw sewage is new for Azalia Morales.
"At first I was surprised from the smell," she said.
Her shock grew as she continued to drive past the yellow sign that reads "raw sewage" for months. She and others on social media questioned why Houston County hadn't stepped in to resolve the issue.
"It's raw sewage, so I'm pretty sure it's a health risk more than anything else," she said.
Morales says her main concerns are for the drivers and the waste water runoff.
However, she's also concerned for the pedestrians, especially children who walk that area.
Since Highway 96 is a state road and it's coming from a private property the county can't do much. However, the department of health's environmental health division is working to flush it away.
"It's taken us longer than many of our other cases," Christin Bluffington said.
She says the department received their first complaint in January. She said it came from the Public Works Department as a water leak complaint. They later discovered it was a sewage leak.
Bluffington says when they received the complaint in January they reached out to the property owner about repairing the septic system. After a grace period, they sent a citation to the owner. She says the plea date was this summer. It now has to be handled through the magistrate court.
"If you think that you were exposed either through an open cut or like your eyes, your mouth, go see your physician," Bluffington said.
If you touch it, immediately wash up. She, like Morales hope they can have the issue resolved soon.
"It has to be fixed regardless of who's going to do it. It has to be fixed," Morales said.
We did speak with the property owner, they said they hope to get the issue resolved soon.
They claim to have problems with their septic tank due to the Department of Transportation Highway 96 re-widening project. They feel like it's GDOTs job to fix the issue.
Due to the dispute, a trial is now set for later this month to determine how the issue will be resolved.