Residents in Carrollton are fed up with a water leak that has flooded and deteroriated their street for years.
On Friday, the corner of Monroe and Cohn Streets was covered by water despite it not having rained in a week. Haley Shales lives on the corner and said this is the norm.
Shales said she first reported the issue to the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) in 2020.
“You’ll report it, they’ll say they’re looking into it. You’ll wait another three or four months, report it again,” Shales said.
She said the issue started as a pothole that kept growing. Water has leaked out of the middle of the street, causing wear and tear over the years.
Shales showed WDSU the damage.
“You can see that the street right here in the middle is completely cracked, with a probably ten-inch difference for this hole in the middle. And they never even put up a cone or anything. So when it filled back with water, people were just hitting it continuously,” she said.
Shales is not the only neighbor fed up with this issue. When Mark Johnson turned the corner and saw WDSU’s camera crew, he stopped to express his frustration.
“Oh my God, years. We’ve been trying to get something done about it,” he said. “Nobody can help us. You know, we just keep running into brick walls. It floods, the sidewalk has maybe six inches of standing water.”
Shales was consistent with reporting the issue and eventually took it to the Environmental Protection Agency. Then on Monday, a SWBNO crew came out and again dug up the street. But this time, the response was different.
The SWBNO notified Shales via email Wednesday of what she had always suspected, that they had discovered a leak in a 30-inch water main.
The SWBNO said the issue had been referred to contractors to figure out next steps.
Shales is hoping this time will be different.
“I don’t know why we’re not a priority. You know, just because it’s not cracked and flooding the entire neighborhood like the other side of Carrollton, this isn’t an issue that there’s a water main break? That they’ve known about,” she said.
WDSU also reached out to SWBNO about a timeline for repairs but has not heard back.
READ MORE:Carrollton neighbors fighting to get water leak repaired
