Southpinellas: Girl's fall into septic tank was just tip of the iceberg

Girl's fall into septic tank was just tip of the iceberg

Residents at Madeira Manor complain of cracked walls, settling foundations, snakes, rats and other pests.

By AMY WIMMER

Residents at Madeira Manor complain of cracked walls, settling foundations, snakes, rats and other pests.

MADEIRA BEACH -- Eight-year-old Kara Ann Krug and Chris Harper, 9, played at the base of a favorite tree last weekend, catching lizards that darted in and out of the brush.

Suddenly the ground gave way, and Kara Ann fell through crumbled blocks of concrete, into a decades-old abandoned septic tank. Her friend Chris yanked her out by the arm -- the only part of Kara Ann's body not submerged in the murky water.

Her parents heard her screams and looked out their apartment window. "She was a swamp monster. She had things hanging off her, just muck -- total muck," said Mike Krug, Kara Ann's father. "We didn't even know it was her."

The problems with septic tanks at Madeira Manor Apartments didn't stop there. The owners have filled in five abandoned septic tanks in the past week, one property manager says, and they believe they have located them all. One had been made into a goldfish pond by a former property manager. Another buried tank fell through under the weight of a work truck that had arrived to help fill in a separate abandoned tank.

But residents of Madeira Manor, a small collection of duplexes and triplexes on the landward side of the Tom Stuart Causeway, say their complaints extend far beyond the septic tanks. Their walls are cracking, their foundations are settling, and they say the property manager allows feral cats to occupy one of the abandoned apartments.

"The thing is this: A bunch of kids live here. What's it going to take, for one of them to die?" said Kim Hart, 29, who has lived in the apartments since January. "One of them almost did already."

Bart O'Connor, who owns Madeira Manor Apartments, did not respond to repeated calls last week from the Times. The operations manager for the apartments, Mark Glidden, said there is "no negligence on our part. We had no idea about any of that at all. We're not to blame because there was no paperwork showing where these sewers were."

"There's no news here. There's no sensationalism here," Glidden said.

County records show that O'Connor purchased the apartments in November 2000 for $550,000. Glidden said previous owners gave the new owner no indication that old septic tanks were buried beneath the yards of the small apartment buildings.

"We inherited the problem," Glidden said, adding that he is doing everything he can to comply with the county health department and other agencies investigating the apartments.

Sewers came to Madeira Manor in 1981, and the septic tanks should have been pumped, ruptured to keep them from holding water, then filled with sand, said Wayne Wyatt, the assistant director of environmental engineering for the county health department.

Wyatt said in his 10 years with the department, he has never heard of anyone falling into a septic tank, but property owners in the county uncover previously undiscovered tanks about once a month. He said O'Connor's property managers have been "very responsive" in making the corrections.

But residents complain that repairs to cracks in their walls and other problems are always superficial, and apartment managers are continually promising improvements that never come.

"They come in here, add a fresh coat of paint, throw some carpet down but haven't fixed anything," said resident Steve Kenney, 35.

In addition, they complain of snakes, rats and other pests. Many of the residents are already seeking new housing because they believe the county, once its investigation is complete, will condemn the buildings. Apartments rent for $400 to $525 monthly at Madeira Manor, which is located in unincorporated Pinellas County.

Some of the building's problems may be linked to Florida's ongoing drought. Shrinking water tables have created underground air pockets, leaving some homeowners with cracking walls and shifting foundations.

County Code Enforcement Officer James Jordan said he has started investigating the property.

"They've really got some issues out there that need to be taken care of," Jordan said. "There's going to be several issues for us to look at once we get going."