SAN ANTONIO – Raw sewage has been flowing through the parking lot of a Northeast Side apartment complex for days, and tenants say management has not responded to their emergency requests for help.
Residents at the Palms at 8800 said the problem started Saturday and has only gotten worse. Sewage, toilet paper and wastewater have been running through the complex’s parking lot — the same area where children ride bikes and play each day.
Tenant Alyssa Gustafson, who moved into the complex in July, said she first noticed the problem Saturday night into Sunday morning when she stepped outside and was hit with an overwhelming smell.
“It hits you right in the face when you walk outside. There’s no avoiding it,” Gustafson said. “I wake up, and I take my dog out for a walk — and I’m ready for that fresh breath of morning air — and instead I get toilet.”
Gustafson said she called the city’s water utility to file a report, but was told the issue was not a city problem — it was a property issue. She also submitted an emergency work order through the tenant portal. As of Tuesday, she had not heard back.
“This could make anybody sick,” she said. “I see kids running through here. I see kids riding their bikes through here — kids with slides on, not even closed-toed shoes. And I know this goes right back inside people’s homes. That’ll make any child sick.”
Gustafson, who is pregnant with her second child, said the situation has become untenable.
“We’d have to leave, or we’d have to find some legal recourse, because I have a child and another one on the way,” Gustafson said. “At the end of the day, that’s not healthy. We can’t stay.”
A man visiting his children at the complex, who asked to remain anonymous, said the sewage had flooded a large portion of the parking lot over the weekend. He expressed concern for the children who live there.
“This is against health, because there are children here who have to walk through this every day on their way to school,” he said. “In the afternoon, when they play, you can’t do anything out here. You can get contaminated.”
When KSAT attempted to speak with management at the Palms at 8800 Tuesday afternoon, a staff member locked the office door as our crew approached. A maintenance worker on site told our crew someone was coming to fix the problem.
The Palms at 8800 did not respond to KSAT’s request for comment.
Under Texas law, landlords are generally required to make a diligent effort to repair conditions that materially affect tenants’ health or safety. Tenants said they are still waiting for the problem to be fully repaired and the area properly cleaned.
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