Backed up sewage destroyed their homes. Now a fight with the city over who's responsible

Raw sewage was spewing out of the kitchen sink, the toilets, the bathtub, the shower head, the washer  — any place in the house a pipe could be found.

It covered the walls, the floors, furniture throughout the house and kitchen appliances. Anything it touched had to be thrown away.

For Pamela Kelly and Yolanda Brinston, two owners of Habitat for Humanity-built houses who live across from each other on Smith Robinson Street in Northwest Jackson, this meant tossing practically everything they owned. Kelly’s husband, Jimmy Kelly Jr, said he had to throw away his kidney dialysis machine, which can cost thousands. Their son, Jimmy III, 13, had to throw away his bed and all of his toys.

The experience has been made tougher by a fight with the city over who is at fault.

“It was a disaster. It came out of the bathroom, the washroom. My son was taking a shower when the sewage came out,” Kelly said. “We tried our best to clean it up, we used bedsheets and cloths, but it was just everywhere.”

This isn’t the first time the families have had to deal with sewage since they moved into their homes in 2018. The Kellys said they dealt with it in the summer of 2022 as well. Brinston said she has been dealing with it since 2021. She continues to watch over a sewage pipe in her front yard that she has to unscrew almost daily to let sewage out or else it will back up into her home.

But this past April was by far the worst, destroying much of their homes, costing the families thousands in repairs and forcing them to live in-and-out of hotels and with family members for almost seven months. Both families had to pull up their floors and have been living on concrete since April.

Brinston replaced some of her furniture, such as couches, chairs and beds for her kids. The Kellys, who moved back into their house last week, are currently living in one room because all of their other furniture is gone.

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"We were living with family, but at some point you just don't want to feel like a bother anymore,” Jimmy said. “And I mean, this is our home.”

On top of all this, the families are in a fight with the City of Jackson over who is to blame for the sewage back-ups. The city claims it could be the homeowners' pipes that caused the backed-up sewage, not the city's pipes underneath the streets. The city is continuing to investigate the matter.

“I have to laugh to keep from crying because nobody should have to live like this in this day-in-time,” Brinston said. “I’m a life-long citizen of Jackson, I’ve lived on this street my whole life. This is not how you are supposed to live in the 21st century.”

Fight with the city

In recent years, the city has started to reimburse property owners if they experience a sewage back-up in their homes. The homeowners must contact the city and file a claim. If it's proven that the city's sewer pipes are to blame for the sewage back-ups, they will expend money for cleaning up and to make repairs.

The Kellys and Brinston filed a claim for the latest sewage back-up in April. The Kellys received $16,000 and Brinston received $12,733.76. Both had to completely gut their homes because of the unsanitary and unlivable conditions.

Both families used the entire money from the claims and have filed another claim so they can finish their repairs and buy new furniture and appliances.

But now the city won’t pay further claims, citing the need to investigate more if the backed-up sewage is due to the city’s pipes malfunctioning or if it’s the homeowners' pipes under their houses that are the issue. City Engineer Robert Lee previously said the Department of Public Works has responded and fixed the sewer lines on Smith Robinson Street, including a full repair on 36 feet of the sewer line.

Brinston said she has never seen the city make repairs to sewer lines on Smith Robinson.

“They’ve sent us letters saying they weren’t responsible,” Jimmy said. “But then when we went to City Hall they said that letter was a mistake and they are still looking into it. It feels like they’re just giving us the run around.”

Both families attended a Jackson City Council meeting on Oct. 23 to share their stories and ask why they haven’t received any money from their claims. City Attorney Catoria Martin said during the meeting that the claims are currently being processed.

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When asked if they have heard anything from the city since the council meeting, the Kellys said they haven’t. Brinston said the same.

“All I ask for the City of Jackson is why do you keep paying people all this money to fix their homes? Couldn’t you use that money to fix the street?” Brinston said.

Kelly said they have been in talks with law firms in Jackson and are thinking about filing a lawsuit against the city if they don't hear anything or if their claim gets denied.

"I feel like a prisoner inside my own home:" Families discuss health issues

Along with dealing with repairs to their homes, Brinston and Kelly allege the raw sewage has caused health issues for themselves and their children.

Jimmy III contracted meningitis over the summer, having to undergo two brain surgeries. The Kellys believes it was the raw sewage that played a part in her son contracting the disease, specifically when he was in the shower and raw sewage came out of the shower head.

He spent weeks in the Children's Hospital at the University of Mississippi Medical Center recovering from the surgery and performing physical and speech therapy.

"We were in the hospital for about a month, I wouldn't leave his side," Pamela Kelly said, fighting back tears. "I wish the city could know what that was like...the sewage had to play a part."

According to the World Health Organization, "meningitis can be caused by several species of bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites." The Environmental Protection Agency states raw sewage carries "bacteria, viruses, protozoa (parasitic organisms), helminths (intestinal worms), and inhaled molds and fungi."

Brinston deals with respiratory issues and she claims her lungs have gotten worse. She worries how the sewage is going to affect her two children, Christyatta, 30, Chrisyan, 16, and her autistic grandchild, Derrian, 5.

"I was a respiratory nurse by profession, so I know what I'm talking about," Brinston said. "There's mold in the bathroom and it's right next to my son's room and he has asthma, so now I'm worried about what's going to happen to him. Every time the raw sewage comes out of the toilet or the bathtub it floods right into his room."

Brinston also fought back tears when talking about her children. She said she cleans constantly because she's so worried about it. She buys packages of Clorox and hand sanitizers.

"I feel like a prisoner inside my own home," she said.

Habitat for Humanity responds

According to Merrill McKewen, the executive director of Habitat for Humanity Mississippi Capital Area, the houses that Brinston and the Kelly's live in were built in 2017. She said that all the plumbing and pipes in that house are brand new.

"Everything we did was new and correct and passed all kinds of inspections by the city," McKewen said.

McKewen believes that the raw sewage isn't coming from the homes of Brinston and the Kellys, but from the sewer pipes in the street, which the city is in charge of.

She said the city did replace 36-feet of sewer line on the wrong street, which is also what Brinston said.

"What's in-front of these houses (the sewer lines) has never been replaced," McKewen said.

A background of Jackson's sewer problems

In 2013, the city entered into a consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice to bring the city’s sewer system into compliance with the federal Clean Water Act.

More than 10 years have passed and that consent decree is still in place. The city’s sewer system continues to deteriorate and raw sewage back-ups continue to plague residents.

This past July, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate tapped Interim third-party water administrator Ted Henifin, who has already been tasked to fix the city’s water system after the Jackson Water Crisis, to take over the sewer system and bring it into compliance.

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Henifin is in-charge of fixing the beleaguered system, which includes 215 known emergency sewer failures throughout the city. He has estimated the cost will be $130 million.

Since he took over the system, Henifin said more than 40 emergency sewer failures have been repaired.

"We got a long way to go still...we got a couple big repairs done last month," he said. "We've got find-and-fix crews that are just doing sewer work and they're doing amazing work for us."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Raw sewage destroyed these Jackson homes, but who is to blame for issue