PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Pinellas County crews are still cleaning and investigating after a crack in a 24-inch sewage line sent water into the roadway and yards.

Workers were sent Wednesday morning to 53rd Avenue North in an unincorporated area of Pinellas County. The county says crews arrived an hour after they received a call at 7:30 a.m.

Crews lined up sandbags in front of people’s homes and yards to redirect the water to a manhole in the street. The county says that once the crack is located, it could take several weeks to resolve the issue.

Pinellas County officials say the pipe is old. In a statement, the county said: “As for how the break happened, the pipe is really old and has been expedited in the County's capital improvement plan (CIP) after the previous break. The CIP project for the sewer main replacement is scheduled to get underway later this fall, but we are exploring whether it can start earlier. The permanent repair project will take several months to complete due to the magnitude of work it will encompass.”

Residents are frustrated over wastewater flowing down their street and entering their yards. They say it’s an ongoing issue happening around 53rd Avenue North.

“Yeah, it was complete frustration and irritation,” Francesca Piccion said.

Crews lined up sandbags in front of people’s homes and yards to redirect the water to a manhole in the street. The county says that once the crack is located, it could take several weeks to resolve the issue. (Spectrum Bay News 9/Julia Hazel)

Piccion has lived in the neighborhood off Duhme Road since 2020. She said it’s the third time wastewater has seeped into her neighborhood, and this has been the worst leak she has experienced.

“We woke up (Wednesday) morning, our neighbor knocked on our door to let us know this was happening, but it was like 7 a.m., and, you know, we could just see the leak happening from the street over here," she said. "And it's been going on since then."

She said the water flowed into her yard, just feet away from her house. Piccion said it all happened very quickly.

“You can see that they're out here working on it now, but because of the type of pipe that it is, they can’t just shut it off,” she said.

She said her neighbor, Barry Nedlock, got the brunt of it, with wastewater just feet away from his house.

“It’s ongoing," Nedlock said. "It needs to stop."

He has lived in this neighborhood for more than 60 years, so he has experienced this several times.

“We’ve been told so much, and nothing is being done,” he said.

Both residents have reached out to the county for help but say they are still upset.

Francesca said that although the leaking wastewater has never entered her home, she's worried it someday will if the problem keeps happening.

“This is just going to be a Band-Aid to solve it right now," she said. "But ultimately, they really do have to replace the whole pipe. And I know there are plans in the works. They have told us that, but I'm hoping that this will be able to jumpstart that process."