Three homeowners say Tampa didn’t clean up after 21-million gallons flooded their properties.
By JONNELLE MARTE
Published July 12, 2006
John Frezza was visiting a friend in November 2004 when he got an unexpected call from a Sulphur Springs neighbor.
“John, you better get over here,” the neighbor said. “I think your house is being washed away by sewage.” Frezza came home to see sewage oozing in front of his home, part of a spill that sent 21-million gallons of the foul-smelling water streaming through the neighborhood.
A foot of toilet paper lined the fence of his next-door neighbor, Dennis Bell.
Almost two years later, Frezza, Bell and another neighbor, George Anderson, are in a legal battle with the city of Tampa. They filed separate lawsuits last year, claiming their homes were damaged when the city did a poor job cleaning up after the spill.
Bell says he still has 2½ feet of sludge underneath his house. A red sign hangs outside Frezza’s basement:
“Warning! Sewage release. Avoid contact.”
“It’s getting really disgusting here,” Bell said.
Bell’s complaint says a major sewage pipe “discharged raw, untreated sewage” that flooded his property. When the city failed to clean it up, the complaint said, his home remained contaminated.
Anderson and Frezza made similar claims, but Anderson’s complaint is more detailed about his expenses. Records show he spent money to replace dirt, shrubbery and his driveway base, as well as the removal and replacement of a storage shed.
Frezza said he couldn’t get into his driveway for a month and a half. Bell said the sewage ruined his hardwood floors and caused one corner of his house to sink 6 inches. He laid plywood over the ground to keep the smell out, but says he needs new floors and possibly new wiring.
Jawdet Rubaii, the residents’ attorney, said their homes may need to be rebuilt.
“At one point is (the repair) costing more than the house is worth?” Rubaii asked.
He added that repair costs increase as time passes: “When the lawsuit was started, it was a lot cheaper to rebuild the house than it is now.”
Filed separately, the three suits have been consolidated.
The city claims the homeowners failed to show that they were deprived of the right or the ability to use their property.
The three neighbors met with city officials for a June 23 mediation but did not find a solution.
“Nothing has come out of it as of yet,” said Julia Cole, an assistant city attorney.
Cole said she could not give details about the case because the lawsuit is still in litigation. She said no future hearings or meetings are scheduled.
Court documents show the neighbors feel their properties values have declined.
The market value of Bell’s property decreased initially because of the spill, from $78,070 in 2004 to $66,503 in 2005, but it went back up to normal after an inspection performed in October 2005 showed no visible damage from the sewer leak, said Jim Glaros, assistant chief deputy for the Hillsborough County property appraiser.
However, Glaros said there is a good chance the inspector did not go inside the house, which means the damaged floors Bell claims he’s dealing with could have gone unnoticed.
Glaros said county appraisers would be happy to go back and re-inspect the house, which now has a market value of $123,805.
