Sanitation Department buys Hampton home

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) - The Hampton Roads Sanitation District bought a nearly $500,000 home on Chesapeake Avenue along the waterfront.

HRSD may need the property to build a sewage pump, according to HRSD General Manager Ted Henifin. He said the final plan won't be in place for about two years and the pump would likely be built inside of the existing home or another structure that looks like a home.

Neighbors Aaron and Christina Scott worry about the smell.

"I used to live near one in Norfolk and it can get pretty bad sometimes," Aaron Scott told WAVY.com.

"If it is built right, smell won't be an issue," Henifin responded.

If the pump is not built, actual sewage may continue to be an issue for neighbors living in Merrimac Shores. Resident and former Mayor Jimmy Eason said sewage backed up "to his knees" on at the other end of Chesapeake Avenue during heavy rain just a few weeks ago.

"It was sewage, very nasty, dirty, smelled sickening," said neighbor Kevin Shea.