Neighbors in Franklin’s River Rest subdivision say their quiet creek has turned into a recurring health scare, with raw sewage bubbling out of manholes and running down a narrow trail straight into the water. Toilet paper and solids are reportedly left hanging in branches and along the banks, creating a lingering stench that keeps kids away from the playground and pets off the paths. Residents say the mess shows up after heavy rains that swamp the small treatment system and send waste into Cartwright Creek, a tributary of the Harpeth River.
Residents told WSMV the overflows occur when stormwater slips into intake pipes, overwhelms the plant, and forces sewage out into the neighborhood. “It’s raw sewage coming into the creek,” neighbor Cory Martin said. Homeowners say video, photos, and site samples they have collected do not match the utility’s public description of the release, and they point to Harpeth Conservancy field tests that they say showed bacteria levels so high they exceeded the range of portable test kits.
Tests And A Long History Of Spills
Local scientists and residents say what they are seeing this spring is part of a long-running pattern, not a one-off fluke. As reported by NewsChannel5, Harpeth Conservancy staff said E. coli readings from a bubbling manhole in the area “maxed out” their field instruments, and county engineers were on site studying the overflow. Neighbors and watchdog groups point to years of enforcement actions and official notices that they say show the plant repeatedly falters whenever wet weather hits.
State Response And The Permit On File
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation told WSMV that the plant operator filed the required 24-hour report after a sanitary release on May 26 and that the state’s Division of Water Resources had not yet received recent E. coli lab results. TDEC officials said they have received neighbors’ photos and videos, along with an overflow notice from the utility, and have instructed field staff to review that material. The state’s public notice for a draft permit modification identifies the site as Grasslands STP at 1006 Treatment Plant Rd and shows an application to expand capacity while comments are under review. The public notice from TDEC is posted in the agency record.
Neighbors Demand Fixes And Accountability
Residents along the creek say fines and promises have not stopped the spills, and many are openly calling for either a brand-new plant or a public takeover of the system. County leaders have already moved to block struggling private wastewater plants from accepting new development taps until they can prove reliable performance, a step covered by NewsChannel5. Neighbors say they want hard proof that the current operator can run the system for years without a single overflow before anyone trusts promises about upgrades.
Legal And Regulatory Stakes
The Grasslands system has been the focus of multiple notices and enforcement actions in recent years, and public filings show the permit for Grasslands STP (NPDES TN0027278) is under review as part of a capacity expansion request. Documents in the record outline prior TDEC notices and a consent-order history that fuel residents’ concerns about ongoing compliance. County engineers have also said they may pursue local citations tied to illegal leaks while state testing and permit review move forward. Public filings from TDEC include the permit notice and related correspondence.
For now, neighbors say they are stuck waiting for lab results and permit decisions while steering clear of the creek. They are pressing regulators and elected officials to insist on a long-term, verifiable fix. TDEC says it will weigh public comments and lab data before issuing any final permit action, and residents plan to keep pushing for repairs or a change in ownership until the sewage overflows stop for good.
