Rochelle Residents Sue City over Sewage Dumping

ROCHELLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A group of residents in Rochelle filed a federal lawsuit claiming city officials are allowing raw sewage to seep into their yards.

It’s a story 41NBC first reported in June.

Earthjustice attorney Alisa Coe said that Rochelle’s black and white populations are divided by a set of railroad tracks, with most of the white residents living south of the tracks and most the black residents living on the north side. Coe claims the city has repaired the nearly 70-year-old pipes south of the tracks but hasn’t made any upgrades to pipes on the north side.

The residents in the lawsuit state that the raw sewage flows into their homes through bath tub drains. Occassionally, they’ve removed plugs from sewage pipes to divert the waste into their yards instead of their homes.

41NBC has not heard back from the city’s attorney about the issue or the lawsuit.

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