Raw sewage in driveways and street in North Meadows

Foyle MLA, Ciara Ferguson (Sinn Féin) has contacted NI water regarding the sewage system in the Marianus Park and Hazelbank area, following a flooding incident in the area.

On Tuesday October 4, raw sewage overflowed onto the street in north Meadow, as a result of a substantial blockage in the sewers.

Ms Ferguson is seeking information on when the sewers were last maintained and how often maintenance takes place?

Speaking to Derry Now, North Meadows resident, Ciara McGabhann said the flooding issues with the sewers had been ongoing for the past 12 years.

She added: “We have lived here for 23 years and what happened last week is not a new issue. The same thing happened in 2010.

“Tuesday’s flooding and the 2010 event stem from the fact that there are two sewers feeding sewage away from Marianus Park and the other housing estates above North meadows. On both occasions the sewers became blocked. That meant there was nowhere for that sewage to go except up and over the land.

“The land is at a gradient above our house. It is higher than our house, so, at about 11 o’clock on Tuesday night, the sewage flowed down into our garden.

“There was a heavy deluge of rain and my husband could hear the waterfall in our backyard. When he went out, our yard was starting to flood and it was starting to fill up. Basically, the deluge just flowed through our yard, down the driveway, into the street of the cul de sac where we live,” said Ciara.

Initially, Ciara thought it was just flood water.

“But then we realised it was actually the sewage because of the smell. That is when we knew it was a repeat of the 2010 flooding incident,” she said.

“I went up to Marianus Park at about 11 o’clock on Tuesday night but I could not see anything. I went up again on Wednesday morning and could see that there was a blocked sewer.

“We phoned emergency services and the NI Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS). NIFRS advised me to ring the Flood Defence Line and then we rang NI Water, the emergency line. Both calls were logged as 12.30am on Wednesday.

“Two guys then had to come from Limavady because apparently the gully cleaning lorry does not work in Derry.

“However, they could not do anything because they could not get access to the sewers because there is a palisade fence there which is locked.

“The land belongs to the Housing Executive. All they could do was go up to Marianus Park to clean the road drain.

“On Wednesday, McAllister’s came out. This is the company to which the Housing Executive has tendered out the clearing of gullies. It was a young fella on his own and he was also unable to gain access to the sewers, so he left,” said Ciara.

Ciara said she then phoned NI Water several times in an attempt to remediate the problem.

She added: “At half past one on Wednesday, NI water came out to my house. The representative said he knew where the sewers were and that he was “well aware” of the problem. He then asked me if I could arrange access to the site.

“The opening of the gate to the sewers was facilitated by Sinn Féin. It is a farcical situation that we have two state bodies, NIHE and NI Water that should be in communication with one another.

“Anyway, NI water did go up at half one but did nothing about blockage or flooding. It got progressively worse.

“Our entire driveway was covered in sewage. I had to put a disinfectant foot bath in front of our door. Every time we get out of the car, we had to disinfect our feet before we came into the house. The driveway and the backyard were no go zones. They were completely covered in soiled water and toilet roll,” said Ciara.

On Friday last, Derry City and Strabane District councillor, Conor Heaney (Sinn Féin) confirmed to Derry News the blocked sewer had been cleared.

Cllr Heaney said he had been contacted by a number of residents in the area regarding the Tuesday night’s flooding.

He added: “I have spoken to the contractors and the blockage has now been cleared.

“Arising from the flooding incident, my party colleague, Ciara Ferguson, will subsequently be tabling questions to NI Water regarding the sewage infrastructure in the North Meadow / Marianus Park area.

“It is vital we know when the sewers were last maintained and how often maintenance takes place.

“I will also be trying to get to the bottom of the Marianus / Hazelbank sewage system, in terms of whether it is operating beyond capacity, given the building of new housing estates on the Springtown Road,” said Cllr Heaney.

NI Water also carried out a comprehensive clean up of the surface sewage lying in the area.

Ciara McGabhann said the flooding had heightened her concerns about the retaining wall at the rear of her home.

“The wall is holding the banking back. Even in 2017 when the floods washed away half of Donegal we did not have a problem and that was some savage rain.

“However, with the water escaping the sewers on Tuesday night, water could be building up in the land behind the retaining wall. We do not know how long this situation has been going on.

“This time, the drainage system in our back garden saved the street, otherwise the whole street could have been flooded and we live beside older people who are downhill from us, so their gardens would have been absolutely swimming in sewage,” said Ciara.