Wake County Residents At Odds Over Raw Sewage

Some tenants of Sanders Mobile Home Park are dealing with raw sewage. It is right behind the home of Letisia Rodgers Tart, and the smell is even worse for Sylvia Perry.

"I have a brand new trailer, and the floors have started swelling in my home behind the sewage," Perry says.

Wake County's Environmental Services Department has ordered the landlord, Darrell Wiggins, to repair the septic systems on three lots, including his own, and to vacate three others by April 1.

"You don't expect all of a sudden to have someone knock on your door and say, 'OK, it's time to go,'" Tart says. "You're like, 'Wait a minute, I don't have any money. Where am I going to go?"

James Thompson, a tenant at the mobile home park, is defending Wiggins. He blames the sewer problems on Perry and Tart.

"They went and dug holes," Thompson says. "That's why the sewage went and jumped up on the ground."

Thompson says the landlord will address the problems.

"He's going to come out here and fix the septic tanks," Thompson says. "We sat down the other day and talked about it."

The landlord says Perry and Tart caused their own sewer problems, and the problem will be repaired Saturday. He also says Perry and Tart are in the process of being evicted.