CEDAR SPRINGS, Mich. — A Cedar Springs RV park said there was a septic issue spanning several days after 13 ON YOUR SIDE called with concerns from a viewer about smelly water.
Darci Browne has been living at the Cedar Springs RV Resort since May. She said she is homeless and splits her year between her camper and her car.
She reached out to 13 ON YOUR SIDE saying the water that comes from the park hookup to her camper and the nearby pond has smelled bad for months.
"It's a fresh bouquet of dookie," she said as she sniffed a cup of water she said she got from the hookup.
Browne installed a filter to her hookup but currently uses bottled water for everything because she said the smell is so foul.
She called 13 ON YOUR SIDE after she saw children swimming in the pond.
"Yesterday or the day before, my neighbor had her grandkids in that water, and they were swimming in there, and nobody told her, nobody told her. A lady came up to her and said get your grandkids out of there and go wash them up in the bathhouse, she goes, because a septic tank leaked or something is in there."
Browne said she noticed caution tape around the entrance to the pond and this sign posted on Sunday.
"My biggest concern is you have a lot of elderly here, you have a lot of family with kids here, nobody's being told what to do with their water or not to drink it, or if it's safe to drink, or if it is safe to use and I cannot imagine if your water smells like that, that it is safe."
Browne talked with someone at the park Monday morning.
"She said, I would not use that water until after 10 o'clock tonight," said Browne. "She said they're going to come and fix it, that it's some backup between the stop sign and the building up there."
Browne added, "nobody has come and said anything, nothing and I'm frankly quite furious about it."
A maintenance worker at the park told 13 ON YOUR SIDE over the phone Monday that there was a septic issue over the last couple days and the pond was closed mainly out of precaution because it happened nearby.
He said a state inspector visited Monday and said the issue was being handled correctly.
The worker also said there is no impact to the water from hookups or site bathroom water and he plans to test the pond water on Tuesday.