Wake Residents Raise 'Stink' Over Potential Waste Issues With Subdivisions

Homeowners along Buffaloe and Watkins roads do not want sewage spraying or human waste ponds in their neighborhoods.

"We're obviously concerned about the odor," homeowner Paul Giro said. "We are concerned about the traffic. We are concerned about our livelihoods."

Those concerns could become reality when Ridgley Hills and Rockbridge subdivisions are built. The developers plan to use what is called the Sheaffer system to treat human waste.

A series of ponds would be used to naturally clean wastewater. The company said the ponds are nearly odorless and would produce virtually no sludge buildup. The treated water is then sprayed into natural and wooded areas.

Many activists said they are opposed to the developers' idea. They plan to go before Wake County commissioners Monday to appeal building permits given to the developers.

"Of course, it's fear of the unknown, but we're also willing to bet some of these things are going to happen," homeowner Barry Wilder said. "It just seems unnecessary to impose this type of system on us when it hasn't been tested in this area."

Homeowners are not just opposed to the treatment ponds. They will present a broad argument to the commissioners.

"They basically don't take into account the history of the land, the neighborhoods, the roads, the actual property markers where they put roads divide individual's property in half. The actual density is very high," Giro said.

One of the developers told WRAL that he followed all of the rules in the permitting and site planning process.