Land Erosion Threatens Homes In NJ Neighborhood
By Todd Quinones
FLORENCE Twp., N.J., (CBS) -- Land eroding in a local neighborhood.
It's happening in Florence Township, Burlington County.
The view from Chopper 3 is startling.
An enormous chunk of land gone, tumbled down towards the Delaware River, leaving behind a cliff's edge about 10 yards away from two houses.
"The rain was just, the water was just pouring through there and it was just a steady stream of water down to the river," said homeowner Chris O'Dell.
Chris and Lynne O'Dell have watched this slow landslide develop over time and watched as their backyard slowly disappeared.
Just about two years ago the property line here extended straight across. But after months of erosion this wide chasm has now opened up and it is threatening two homes.
A picture shows what their backyard used to look like. Compare that with what it looks like now.
The O'Dells and their neighbor say the erosion really began to pick up steam over the past few months, growing bigger by the week.
"We're just at the mercy of whomever and waiting."
Efforts to get help from local officials went nowhere. They say they were told it was their problem.
But that all changed Monday.
This most recent rounds of storms washed away more soil, revealing for the very first time a public storm drain in the middle of the chasm.
The O'Dells say township officials took notice.
'They opened up the storm sewer in the front and found that the spot where it was capped a number of years ago had broken loose and this storm water had been running through the pipe into here for we don't know how long," said Chris O'Dell.
Township officials will be heading out here Wednesday morning to try to figure out what can be done.
In the meantime the O'Dells say they plan on staying at their home, but they're not sure for how long.
