Local

Jacksonville, FL — JEA is investigating a 1-million-gallon sewage leak it says was the result of vandalism.

According to our partner Action News Jax, the leak happened here at a lift station along Lenox Avenue near Interstate 295 and Normandy Boulevard, and neighbors miles away are dealing with the stench.

After the raw sewage leaked into the Wills Branch of the Cedar River, JEA issued a strong warning to neighbors: no drinking, swimming or fishing.

Amber Smythe and her family live along a nearby creek where some of the sewage ended up.

“There’s been like, a sewage smell coming from the creek behind our house,” Smythe said.

Smythe’s husband sometimes fishes in the creek and even though they don’t eat the fish, Smythe --the mother of two and expecting her third -- said the leak is a concern.

JEA said the leak was caused by wire and rags clogging the sewer line. It is investigating but believes the clog was intentional.

“You ride through here at night, all the roads, and you’ll be like, aw man. It's bad at night, it's bad at night,” Jacob Ellenburg said.

Ellenburg lives next to where the leak happened. He said there’s always a smell but the last few days have been especially bad.

Ellenburg said, “You don’t want to drive without your little circulatory air. Driving past here, you want to keep where it’s not fresh air coming in, 'cause it’s not fresh."

JEA and the state Department of Environmental Protection are investigating.

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