Unincorporated neighborhood finally getting sewer service

Bernice YeungMax Whittaker/Prime Arleen Hernandez frequently has to unclog her backed-up shower because of the aging septic tank at her Parklawn home.The unincorporated neighborhood of Parklawn, one of hundreds of impoverished California communities that lack basic services, celebrated a breakthrough this month when Stanislaus County broke ground on a new sewer line connecting the district to the city of Modesto.Parklawn, which has grappled with deficient septic tanks for about 60 years, is an unincorporated island of county territory nearly surrounded by Modesto. Around the state, such densely populatedunincorporated neighborhoods on county land have long suffered from government neglect and lack some combination of sewer systems, clean drinking water, sidewalks, streetlights and storm drains.“After decades of struggling with failing septic systems, Parklawn will finally realize a dream that most of us take for granted– an adequate wastewater system,” said Phoebe Seaton of California Rural Legal Assistance’s Community Equity Initiative.“Individual septic systems have proven grossly inadequate. Leaking and leaching wastewater threatens the groundwater and human health, damages homes and hurts property values.”The organization sued the Stanislaus County in 2004 on behalf ofParklawn residentsand later worked with the county to find funds to upgrade the neighborhood’s antiquated infrastructure.Without access to a sewer system, wastewater...
Source: California Watch - Category: American Health Authors: Tags: Health and Welfare Daily Report California Lost Parklawn sewer unincorporated unincorporated communities wastewater Source Type: news