Excessive Flooding in Canal

Tonight, Ray Cattouse, who lives at Mile Fourteen on the Philip Goldson Highway, is once again speaking out to the media. He’s worried about the environment and frustrated with his neighbor’s actions. Despite years of complaints to the Department of the Environment, his neighbor has been allowed to continue waste management operations. Cattouse claims these activities have polluted the creek on his property and now caused severe flooding. We visited Cattouse’s home today to see the damage firsthand. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the report.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Across the country, hundreds of families are grappling with the severe flooding brought on by Tropical Storm Sara. However, Ray Cattouse, who lives at Mile Fourteen on the Philip Goldson Highway, believes there’s more to the story behind the water invading his property. He points the finger at his neighbor who owns a carbonated beverage and hazardous waste disposal facility. A canal links the properties of Cattouse, Canul, and their neighbor Teichroeb. Last year, Cattouse reported a fishkill, which he claims was caused by pollutants in the water.

 

Ray Cattouse, Resident

“Because of that, I can’t give mister Teichroeb wrong for doing what mister Teichrob did. Mister Teichroeb block off the canal. So that the water pass through his place no more. I can’t give ah wrong. I woulda do the same thing. No, if the department of environment will tell you we can’t do nothing about that then you do what you could for yourself and due to that canal block off now, because this canal that flows through my property and mister Teichroeb  property  is the what you say the canal that the water used to pass through all the time on the natural canal, but now that is block, now the water have to find the way around.”

 

Cattouse explains that his neighbor blocked off access to the water on his property, which he understands since his neighbor also enjoys fishing in the nearby natural ponds. However, this has caused the water to change its course, leading to flooding on Cattouse’s land. While he acknowledges that the recent heavy rains might have made things worse, he insists he’s never seen flooding like this before.

 

Ray Cattouse

“We have a lot of water, but I’ve lived here since 2000.  My parents have lived here since 79, and all the hurricanes and so we passed through. We never have this kind of flooding. This flooding just happened this year because the natural flow of the canal is black. And like I say again, I can’t beg mister Teichroeb to block out the water, make it go round, because the DOE say that they can’t do nothing about it. So he did something about his pond.  And so with that now, like you see the whole area here is flooded because the two canals on either side of mister Teichroeb is too small to carry the water.”

 

The neighboring facility operates with the green light from the Department of the Environment, so it’s unlikely they’ll stop anytime soon. Cattouse mentioned that his property stretches at least half a mile, making it tough and costly to block access. He thinks the best fix would be to widen the culverts along the road to handle the increased water flow.

 

Ray Cattouse

“The resolution this time around is very simple, the culvert on either side of mister Teichroeb property. It’s too small to carry the water because the main flow of the water is block. No? But what the M.I.D. will have to do is to put two bigger culverts on each side of mister Teichroeb property. I’ll take you around there right now and show you the  height of the water on both sides of mister Teichroeb property.  Because the water can’t get through fast enough because the main stream going through mister Teichroeb land is blocked off”

 

In 2019, Cattouse took to the media to air his grievances about alleged air pollution emanating from Canul’s property. In 2023, Cattouse reported the alleged pollution of the creek. We reached out to the Chief Environmental Officer, Anthony Mai for a comment. He told us that the Department of the Environment is not aware of the current complaint but will investigate the matter. Britney Gordon for News Five.