Lakeland homeowners relieved source of stench found, city to clean 1,000 gallon wastewater line spill

LAKELAND, Fla. - The City of Lakeland believes it has found the source of a chemical or gas stench that caused many complaints from homeowners in a nearby community for months.

The city is working to fix a wastewater line break that caused more than 1,000 gallons to spill into a swampy area in south Lakeland near Lakeland Linder International Airport.

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Russ Delaney says the bad smell in his community of Carillon Lakes became stronger and stronger in February and March.

"It caused people to have headaches and get nauseous," said Delaney.

Carillon Lakes is nestled in the industrial complex. Concerned-- Delaney reported the smell to city commissioners earlier this month.

"We're pretty sure it's a break, but we have to get in there to identify what exactly is going on first," said Kevin Cook, a spokesperson for the city.

The city flew a drone over a swampy area off of County Line Road and discovered exposed wastewater where one of their wastewater lines is located. The line, which is more than 20 years old, mainly serves industrial customers.

Right now, the city's diverting the line's flow, then will lay 4,000 feet of pipe and will pump out the wastewater.

"A lot of things happen to cracked pipes. It could be root intrusion," said Cook. "Sometimes you just have a failed pipe. We have a lot of failing infrastructure. Some pipes are made of clay. This is not the case, but it could be a number of causes. But we will not know again until we get in there."

"I'm really shocked we found the issue this quickly," said Delaney.

Delaney's happy the city acted quickly so he and his neighbors can enjoy the outdoors once again free from foul odor.

"Very happy, yes," said Delaney. "Now we're not worried about health issues, and we can sit outside and enjoy the great Carillon Lakes community that we have."

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Crews won't get to the pipe until late Wednesday or Thursday morning, according to Cook, and it will take a while to determine what exactly caused the leak or break.

They're working with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that will determine if there's an environmental or health impact.

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