MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It may sound like a line from the movie “Ghostbusters,” but folks in one southwest Memphis neighborhood say they’ve been “slimed.”
It doesn’t take long to see what folks in the Barton Heights neighborhood are concerned about — water that won’t drain and a green slimy mess covering yards and sidewalks.
“It’s just been getting worse,” said Mario Howard, who has lived on Redbud Road for about five years.
Howard says every time there’s a heavy rain, the green stuff starts showing up.
“The green slime, the mold and the mess building around it, you know, the mosquitoes and the flies and stuff,” he said.
Gerald Richardson lives around the corner on Charlotte Road and says the water is one thing, but the green slime presents an altogether different challenge.
“Messy looking and stuff and if you walk on it, you’ll slip. A person could slip and fall. I walked on there a few times and I slipped and fell on it a couple of times myself.” he said.
Richardson and Howard would both like to see something done about the drainage and any potential leaks that may be causing water to pond all over the neighborhood.
They agree the green slime could be some sort of algae, but say as property owners, they expect answers and action on the drainage problem. So far, however, they haven’t seen much action.
“When we call the city they tell us to call MLGW. When we talk to MLGW they tell us it’s not they’re job, it’s the city’s job, call the City. So basically we’re going back and forth and we ain’t getting the right answers that we need,” Howard said. “We paying taxes so we might as well get the help we need. What are we paying taxes for if we ain’t getting the help?”
MLGW later told WREG,”We identified a leak to fix. If that doesn’t clear up the issue then drainage can be explored.”
