Meadowcroft Road Residents Complain of Sewage, Rats, Street Cave-ins

Something stinks on Meadowcroft Road.

John Carrero, who said he's lived in the development for 20 years, said the smell of sewage has persisted since the roadway infrastructure began to fail in recent years.

His neighbor Emily Fedor, who's lived there for 39 years, describes "a fecal smell" that persists on the block during the summer months that's "so bad we can't open our windows."

Then, in December, when the most recent sewer breakage occurred, Fedor said sewage spilled all over leaf piles in the street, which still remained uncollected for days after the incident.

She also recalled two roadway cave-ins on her street, one of which was just avoided by a school bus, she said.

"This street is rising and cracking all the way down," Fedor said. "They said they fixed it. The last time they fixed it was July, and my neighbor got three feet of sewage in her house."

"For 35 years, we didn't have this," she said. "When they opened this [street] up, we got rats in our house."

Next door, the Olsen family attested to the rat issue as well. With three dogs in the household, Lisa Olsen said, they're concerned that their pets could become sickened by an encounter with the animals, which they say are persistent.

Moreover, on a block of bi-level houses, they were none too thrilled at the prospect of sewage overflow infiltrating the improvements they've made to the below-ground rooms in their home.

"We're afraid that the roads, the way they're cracking up, they're going to start caving in or the pipes are going to break and we'll get flushed out," she said.

Frank Toth, whose home shares a property line with Rock Products, Inc., directly behind the development, said that he's seen plenty of rats, and claimed his husky, Tiffany, has already torn one apart.

"My dog got one rat and bit the thing right in half," he said.

It's also harder for residents on Meadowcroft to shake the feeling of second-class citizenry, as they continue to wait for a resolution to the issues that have become all too commonplace in their neighborhood.

"The last time they repaired the development was when I moved in," Carrero said. "If this was Sherwood, you wouldn't have this problem."

'Probably a $10 million project'

When reached for comment—prior to his removal at the January re-organization of West Deptford government—then-Township Administrator Eric Campo said he was aware of the situation on Meadowcroft Road.

Despite his sympathies for the plight of residents on that street, the sewer, water, and pumping station improvements it requires will cost about $10 million to correct.

"I appreciate their frustration," he said. "I've identified it as a place where we need to make investment for three to four years. We didn't get a capital ordinance this year, and until we get authorization, we'll have to continue to be reactive to these problems."

Campo said that short of securing low-cost loans from the state to make the needed improvements, they will likely require additional debt service.

"That's a normal process for every municipality," he said.

"Other than a project like the power plant, which did contribute $107 million over a 30-year period, you're not going to capture significant money just through growth to pay cash for these projects."

In the meantime, the residents of Meadowcroft Road will continue to wait.