Ruptured pipe sends gallons of sewage spilling into Miramar canals

Tree knocked over by Hurricane Irma causes pipe to burst Sept. 11

MIRAMAR, Fla. – A crew hired by the city of Miramar has been pumping potentially contaminated gunk out of canals in the Country Club Ranches neighborhood as residents in the area worry about long-term issues.

A tree knocked over by Hurricane Irma caused a pipe to burst on Sept. 11, sending gallons of sewage spilling into the canals and even into a yard.

"It is just disgusting. It really is. It's a foul odor that's just -- you can just imagine," Yeddy Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez and her family live near a canal just down the street from where the break happened.

She said the stench was unbearable until city workers came by and treated the water and roads with 700 pounds of chlorine.

But now, neighbors said they're dealing with new infestations of mosquitoes, and they are worried that the well water they use every day to survive could be in danger of contamination.

"We're utilizing this water to bathe (and) brush our teeth. We don't know if this is getting into our well water," Rodriguez said.

"We don't know how long it's going to take for this contamination to get into our wells, possibly, but it's a real risk," another neighbor, Mike Kaufman, said.

City officials said they have pumped out hundreds of thousands of gallons of the water in the canal and they are continuing to do testing to make sure the wells aren't contaminated.

So far, no fecal bacteria have been found, but neighbors are worried that it's just a matter of time.