Local

Residents worry smelly pond in Winter Springs will become hazard

WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. — Residents in a Winter Springs neighborhood are worried an unkempt retention pond by their homes is creating a health hazard, and the city isn’t doing anything about it.

Neighbors said the fish in the pond are dying and it’s creating a foul smell that permeates the Oaks Preserves neighborhood.

Resident Sebastian Acosta said he has been dealing with the issue for about a week.

On top of the foul smell, he said he has to deal with vultures in the area that come to eat the dead fish.

He said he contacted Public Works, but is worried the pond will become a health concern before officials take care of the problem.

“They cannot tell me how long it is going to take. They said they cannot throw a boat in there so I am really getting concerned,” Acosta said.

Acosta said he’s especially worried about his two 3-year-old boys who constantly play outside.

“We know that it is a very bothersome odor. We are working as quickly as possible to resolve it,” said Brian Fields, an engineer for the city.

Fields said the fish in the pond are dying due to a low oxygen level caused by algae.

Officials are investigating to find out what level of treatment is needed so that it doesn’t happen again, and city workers are having trouble getting access to the pond.

“The difficult part with this pond is we need a boat or some type of craft to reach the middle of the pond. We hope to have it cleaned up by the end of the day today,” Fields said.

Neighbors said as soon as soon as Channel 9 left the neighborhood, city workers were out in the pond with a boat cleaning it up.