MEMPHIS, Tenn. — People who live near Bennington Lake in southeast Shelby County say they’re dealing with a smelly situation after dead fish float near their homes.
The Villages of Bennington claims to be the largest property owners’ conservancy in Tennessee, with over 1,400 property owners.
Some owners say they are dealing with a hazard in their backyards. Ann Marlowe, who lives near the lake, said, “We have all these dead fish floating everywhere, and it smells really bad back here.”
Bennington Lake sits between Riverdale and Ross Road in Southeast Shelby County.
Last week hundreds, if not thousands, of dead fish washed up to the edge of the lake near the back yard of some homes.
“[I] looked out one afternoon and saw all this stuff floating. We thought it was petals or something from all the plants here. When I got closer, I realized it was silver fish,” said resident Dawn James.
Sheila Crocker, who always stays nearby, said, “I had company on Sunday. We were not able to sit out on the back. The smell was so intense.”
They say the problem seems to have started when the pumps in the lake stopped working after last week’s storms knocked out power in the area.
Jay Tull lives near the lake and says this is not the first time this has happened. “The pumps being out and not circulating the water and oxygen in there. The last time this happened, the groundskeeper guy explained it to me.”
People we talked to say when they noticed the dead fish, they immediately started calling the company that manages the lake.
By Tuesday morning, the fish were gone, but that does not make the people who live here feel that much better, because they are not sure why the fish died, or where they went.
“Just giving an explanation would have helped, but just avoiding the issue, I am not happy with that,” said Crocker.
Crye-Leike, which manages the homeowners association, says they obtained fish for a fish rodeo that was held a few weeks ago, and the extra fish were added to the pond for the rodeo.
The grounds director for the area, who was employed by the HOA, said that he noticed the film on the lake, along with the dead fish, Wednesday afternoon. He believes someone dumped oil into the water.
The water in the pond has been going through treatment for the last 48 to 60 hours.
The company says they have everything under control, but they understand it was a startling situation for people living in the area.