Bensalem residents say sewage leak from nearby apt. complex has created unhealthy living conditions

BENSALEM, Pa. - Residents in a Bucks County neighborhood are fed up over a foul odor. They say the smell is sickening and they say their health could be at risk. It all reportedly started with a sewage spill.

"I don’t think anybody likes to live in a place like that, where you smell a smell and the kids ask, ‘What’s that smell?’" Heidy Biac commented.

"From the sewer from feces, it backed up into our storm drains. The storm drains across the street are all corroded and feces come up out of the sewer. It comes out of the storm drains. Now it’s in our storm sewers," Colleen Slaweski said.

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Residents who live on Hansell Drive, in Bensalem, are fed up with the sewage smell in their neighborhood. A few weeks ago, a sewage line carrying waste from a sprawling apartment complex nearby ruptured and leaked from storm drains in a field near their properties.

"It’s a private line that goes through there and we react immediately because of the problems here, in Bensalem," Bensalem mayor, Joe Digirolamo, said.

The dedicated sewer line was on private property and owned by Bucks Meadow Apartments. Bensalem officials contacted them and the DEP and it took a couple of weeks before a private contractor came in, cleared the sewage clog and made repairs.

"They cited the apartment complex, got them to fix the leak they had, made them blow out the line to make sure the sewage line was working," Mayor Digirolamo said.

But, residents aren’t convinced all is well. They have long dealt with living in a low-lying and flood prone area and worry about the future. They’ve been asking officials for reports, showing the system is, in fact, intact.

"It was bubbling through the drain. It smelled horrendous for days and now, again today, it’s smelling again. They haven’t fixed the issues," Slaweski added.

"The best we can do is monitor and make sure the line is clear so that the people don’t have any more problems," Digirolamo said.