South Norwalkers report sewagepit, rats, gas leak at WashingtonVillageBy Nancy Chapman 12 : 35 am EDT July 15 2018

The Norwalk Fire Department found sewage in this Day Street trench, between Washington Villageand Ryan Park, on Saturday.

Updated, 7:18 a.m., 8:30 a.m.: Copy edits

NORWALK, Conn. — Rats in the street, raw sewage within 20 feet ofoccupied apartments, and a smell of gas.

That was the scene described Saturday at Washington Village, near a

A rat on Day Street on Saturday, accordingto Rick Reardon. (Rick Reardon)

construction site and a City park thathas been dug up to remove pollutants.

Norwalk Fire Department Deputy ChiefEd Prescott confirmed the report of rawsewage in an open pit and describedinvestigations into a reported naturalgas smell as producing an inconclusiveresult.

Prescott wrote:

“Yes, we did respond to a reported odor in the area of 100 block ofWashington Village, on Day Street. The problem with the smell of natural gaswas not picked up by our meters, although a light intermittent odor was inthe air. ….

“The bigger issue discovered was raw sewage in an open pit within 20 feetof occupied housing. DEEP { Connecticut Department of Energy andEnvironmental Protection} and a representative from Norwalk’s HealthDepartment responded and the sewage leak was contained, but a foot ofsewage remained in the open pit. A contractor is scheduled to pump thesewage and apply slacked lime to the area Sunday morning at 07:00. TheHealth Department will be on scene Sunday morning to monitor the clean-upand will provide an update to Fire and DEEP officials.

“If an occupant smells an odor of gas in their home they should call 911.”

The Norwalk Housing Authority is working in conjunction with TrinityFinancial to build new apartments at 13 and 20 Day Street, with thereplacement for Washington Village to feature equal parts public housing,affordable housing and market rate housing. Meanwhile, remediation at theadjacent Ryan Park has progressed to the point that piles of contaminatedsoil have been removed.

Rats are living in this collection ofconstruction materials on Raymond Street,Rick Reardon said. (Rick Reardon)

Common Council member Ernie Dumas (D-District B) met South Norwalkresident Rick Reardon at Washington Village on Saturday to review theconditions, both men said.

“It’s a shame how these people have to live in those conditions, with all thedust and their windows open, the dust and the noise and the things that aregoing on down there, as they work,” Dumas said Saturday evening.

Many residents have moved out, using vouchers issued by the HousingAuthority, Dumas said.

Washington Village is said to be theoldest public housing project inConnecticut, possibly the country. Phase1 of its replacement, dubbedSoundview Landing, is located acrossthe street. The new name was chosenthrough a poll of Washington Villageresidents.

Khloe Lewis of Inkhouse said in a May29 email that “new and longtimeresidents alike will be moving into the 10 state-of-the-art units of housing at13 Day Street later this month and the 70-unit building at 20 Day Street isscheduled to open this summer. Phase 2 of the project is currently projectedto begin construction this fall. Upon completion, this multi-phasedrevitalization effort will replace the existing Washington Village site with 273new, mixed-income apartments with modern, sophisticated finishes andexceptional amenities, all in the heart of historic South Norwalk.”

Dumas said Saturday that he’d been to Washington Village “a couple of nightsago” to see the hole on Day Street, a trench filled with water, separated fromWashington Village by a chain-link fence.

There were rats swimming in thisWashington Village basement Saturday,according to Rick Reardon. (Rick Reardon)

While there’s a fence between the holeand the sidewalk, the gate to the fence isleft open when construction workersleave.

Reardon provided a photo of a rat andsaid he’d seen half a dozen. Dumas saidhe saw one or two.

Reardon said he’d followed a rat to anopen bulkhead door and found five feetof water in Washington Village’sbasement.

The water is underneath building twoand the Health Department talked aboutevacuating a woman who lived there,Dumas said, asserting that the NorwalkHousing Authority wanted to pump outthe basement but were told to hold offbecause the contents of the water areunknown.

Norwalk Housing Authority ExecutiveDirector Adam Bovilsky did not respondto an email from NancyOnNorwalk.Bovilsky was on scene Saturdayafternoon, Reardon said.

DEEP Emergency Response CoordinatorDavid Poynton said there was grey waterin the basement and the trench. Itwasn’t sewage in the trench, he said.

Workers filled a trench with stones lateSaturday, Rick Reardon said. (Rick Reardon)

Dumas said they’d watched and seen toilet paper and feces enter the trench.

Reardon produced a photograph of the trench filled with fluids, dated May25.

“Not sure why sewage was allowed to sit in open pit. The pipe that wasleaking, or caused sewage was capped off, after we all were there,” Prescottsaid in an email.

O&G Industries, construction manager for the site, “has retained a contractorwho is coming out first thing in morning,” Poynton said. “They fixed thepipe.”

There’s a gas leak, and Eversourcepropped manhole covers up so therewouldn’t be an explosion, Reardon andDumas said.

Prescott said he’d been told thatEversource has a practice of venting aknown gas leak in a street, until they canget a crew to dig up road and repair theproblem.

An Eversource media contact said shehad no record of a gas leak at thelocation.

Asked about the problems by email,Mayor Harry Rilling said he’s out ofstate but will have the Department of Public Works inspect the area andreport back to him.

Reardon said the basement door had been unsecured, and any child couldhave gone in to the flooded basement.

“How can you have people living in a building above five feet of standingwater?” he asked. “…I don’t care what economic background these people arefrom no one deserves this.”

“There’s quite a few issues in Washington Village that should be addressed,”Dumas said.

Dumas was recently appointed to the Common Council as a replacement forFaye Bowman, who has left Norwalk. He said he’d be asking Health, Welfareand Public Safety Committee Chairman Nick Sacchinelli (D-At Large) todiscuss the issues.

“It’s sad,” Dumas said. “There are a lot of people that pay taxes, they work,they should not be going and living in these conditions.”