By Mallory Panuska
Times West Virginian
COLFAX —
A distinct odor of raw sewage permeated the late summer air near a shallow Colfax-area stream Tuesday afternoon as pitch black water trickled from a pipe below a nearby housing development.
On a narrow dirt road leading down a heavily wooded area toward the Tygart River, several neighbors who live in rural homes along Colfax Road sat waiting for the arrival of an inspector from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to take samples of the water for testing.
This water, runoff from a private sewage treatment plant serving Junglewood Estates — the housing development atop the hill — is not always so polluted and the smell is not always evident, the neighbors say. But when the weather is dry, it is unmistakable, and a significant inconvenience, not to mention a potential health and safety hazard for swimmers and boaters who take advantage of the river during the warm summer months.
“Something has to be done,” resident Brent Williams said of the issue. “It is a pressing problem. I wouldn’t want my kids in that. I think anyone should be made aware.”
