HATTIESBURG, MS (WDAM) -
Doris Benton says a sewage smell has been infiltrating the building housing her daycare center. "It's so potent some days that it about knocks you out when you walk in the door," she said of the acrid smell.
The Guiding Light Children's Learning Center owner says she's become concerned that the odor could be hazardous to the health of the young children, aged three months to three years old, that are enrolled at the center.
Tuesday Hattiesburg city workers went out to two manholes across the street from Guiding Light, taking a look at the sewage pipes surrounding the building to see if there are any obvious
blockages. Benton says the putrid smell's been filtering into the center for over a year.
Benton says she has approached city officials multiple times for a solution, and this is the first time anyone from the city has come out to check the area sewage pipes. Local Environmentalist Sherri Jones says "the city has failed".
"Whatever it is, it's a bad odor. We don't know if it's from our building
or from the city and all we're asking is for the city to just see where
it is, locate it for us, and then if it's on our part, we'll do
something about it," said Benton. "We don't want to go spending money unnecessarily
when it could be something with the city."
Late Tuesday city workers visited the area again, this time sending a camera
down through area pipes checking for blockages that workers said
could be caused by anything from toilet paper to grease.
Friday a city official said the odor was coming from inside Benton's building.
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