LAFAYETTE, La (KLFY)– An apartment complex in Lafayette has been plagued with raw sewerage problems according to some of its tenants.

They say the sewage problems have been going on for years at River Oaks.

Residents say a cap on the sewage line has been left open for six months causing the sewage to run out and flood the ground near their front doors leaving a foul smell.

Joy Dodd says she has to wear rain boots when walking to her car to avoid walking in sewage water when it rains.

“All of that sewage gets mixed in with the rain water that we have to walk through. I actually wear my rain boots to get to my car so that my feet don’t get contaminated .”

Another tenant said she became ill from drinking the tap water.

Yet another said she became ill when living at the complex due to methane gas from the sewer and contaminated water.

“I had a water company, SGS sample my water and it came back and the results came back that the fecal matter should not have been higher than ten and it was 4,130. So that’s what we were drinking .”

Dodd now says they are desperate for help as they have exhausted all of their resources in reporting to management and calling the city.

She says TV 10 is her last resort, hoping our reporting will be seen by management and something will get done.

“We’re asking anybody who has solutions to this problem to come forward and help us. Because you know today it’s our apartment building, tomorrow it might be someone else home or apartment building and we are community and we live and survive together. That’s why we live close to each other and we are just asking for help. “