BILLERICA, MASS. (WHDH) - Relentless floods from an underground pipe are wreaking havoc on a Billerica family’s home and back yard – and despite their pleas for a fix, they say their requests have been ignored. David Puglisi investigates.
Shannon DeOliveira and her family just want to be able to relax in their Billerica back yard. But every time it rains, it floods. The water even seeps into the basement.
She believes the problem is coming from an old underground drain pipe that she thought the town would agree to fix.
“I’ve called everybody, you could see how many times,” she said. “They clearly stated we were next on the list for repairs. They had to wait till the water level came down.”
But the pipe was never fixed. Shannon believes it’s because the town got a more than $37,000 repair estimate.
“It’s disappointing for a family that is extremely involved to be just completely completely ignored,” she said. And now she’s suing.
Court document show the town is disputing who owns the pipe and what’s causing the flooding.
The town argues “it remains entirely unclear what caused the drainpipe to malfunction” and that they would only be responsible for damages “through negligence in the construction, maintenance, or operation of its systems of sewers.”
Shannons lawyer says, “This is a municipal problem that the municipalities should be remedy and they’re pushing the price tag onto a private property owner to do the investigative and corrective work.”
7NEWS tried to speak to several Billerica officials but all declined to comment on the story.
As for the DeOliveiras, they are still fighting in court to get the pipe fixed.
The family has thought of moving but the flooding problem has made the home impossible to sell.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)