MOYOCK, N.C. — Smelly sewage problems persist in one Moyock community.
For 10 months now, neighbors in Eagle Creek said they have had to deal with overflowing sewage after long periods of rain.
Sewage pit systems across the neighborhood went down over the weekend. It left a lot of people without the means to use the bathroom, do laundry, and more.
When the neighborhood gets heavy rainfall, HOA President Fred Whiteman said the sewer pit systems almost always back up.
“We will lose our vacuum in the system and then all of the pits will go down,” Whiteman said.
He said the problem comes and goes and pushes wastewater into people’s homes.
“I probably had 40 phone calls between Friday and Saturday, another 10 to 15 on Sunday,” Whiteman said.
One neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous pointed us to the toilet paper and raw sewage in her yard.
Eagle Creek homeowner Stu Schwartz said, “We can’t use the sinks, we can’t use the toilets, we can’t use the shower.”
For a month, Schwartz said he watched his sewage pit sink and that problem only got worse.
“We noticed that pit start sinking,” Schwartz said. “I contacted Envirolink, I contacted the state, I contacted the county. We contacted everyone we could and said you are about to have a problem on your hands. Didn’t hear back from anybody, no one.”
Homeowner Haley Ogren was spared this time but said she’s still dealing with more than $15,000 of floor damage after her toilet backed up in the fall.
“The issue will be you have trouble flushing, and then eventually it will back up into your home,” Ogren said. “Ours comes out the bottom of the toilet in this downstairs area.”
Envirolink crews are busy.
“Our guys spent a lot of the weekend repairing those pits,” said Envirolink President Mike Myers.
They are the subcontracted company repairing sewage issues in the neighborhood.
Myers said Sandler Utilities, LLC owns the system. He’s been working alongside Currituck Water and Sewer to acquire it.
“We have applied to the state for approvals to be able to do what we want to do,” Myers said. “Right now, we are kind of waiting on the state to approve the transfer of the utility system so we can start making the improvements.”
Myers said they want to switch the vacuum system to a gravity system.
Whiteman said several houses are sitting on the market and can’t close. He wants a solution now, not soon.
"This is an issue that affects home values,” Whiteman said. “It’s a problem and we have no immediate relief in our future.”
We reached officials with Sandler Utilities. They said they are aware of the issues and are supporting Envirolink as they work to fix the sewage pits.
Envirolink’s President Myers also said that his team is working behind the scenes to work on engineering plans, so they are ready to go when they get approval to transition the system.
Sandler officials would not comment on a possible transition.