Pond Drained, Leaves Hundreds of Dead Fish

Описание: A popular community pond in Greenville County is drained, leaving hundreds of fish dead and upsetting people all across the neighborhood.

Residents say all that is left is a mud pit and an awful smell.

Jeannine Cartwright lives in Lakewood on the Saluda in Greenville County.

She says a popular pond in the neighborhood was drained over the weekend by contractors working for Greenville County to repair a nearby road.

Now, residents are left with a horrible smell and an ugly mess.

Jeannine Cartwrightm "it smells nasty, it's an eyesore. These houses along here that bought for a lake view have a nasty view. And we want to know as well who's gonna clean it up? Who's gonna get the dead fish out of here?"

Dozens of fish were left flopping in the mud for days after the lake was drained.

Calls to the county's Public Works Office were not returned, but city workers told News 13 it's common practice to remove fish before draining a body of water.

Bub Sexton has lived on the lake for years and says he personally stocked many of the fish.

Bub Sexton, "neighborhood kids come down here and fish. They can have fun, catch fish, throw 'em back in. Nobody ever takes none out. But look now, they ain't none to take out. They're all laying out there dead."

Dan Shapiro owns the lake as part of his home property and says the county told him the lake had to be drained to fix the road, but nothing was said about the fish inside.

He says the road will be fixed and the lake ready to fill in one month, but some neighbors are doubtful. "they said they were gonna do it when winter hit and it took 'em a year."

Until then, neighbors can still catch the smell but not the fish.

Neighbors say, aside from the smell, they're concerned about any health hazards from the dead fish being left behind and the effects on other wildlife that use the pond as a habitat.

_______________
Follow WLOS on social media:

WLOS ABC 13 News on Facebook:   / news13  
WLOS ABC 13 News on Twitter:   / wlos_13  
WLOS ABC 13 News on Instagram:   / wlos_13  

Subscribe to WLOS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABC13Cha...

Listen to AnchorMOMS, the Podcast:
https://wlos.com/news/anchormoms/anch...

Watch more top local news stories:    • Western Loses At ETSU, Highlights and more  

For all of the day’s top local and national news, visit http://www.wlos.com
Watch our live newscasts and other live video at https://wlos.com/watch

Have a news tip? Send it directly to us:

Email us: [email protected]
Call the Newsroom: 828.684.1340


WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.