Just off Highway 41 toward Camden, a line of green water runs into residents’ yards and emits a putrid odor every time it rains.

Despite incessant pleas from people living in the area, no progress has been made to address the problem, which has been going on for months, at least.

“I’ve never seen it like that since I’ve been here,” said Dallas County Commissioner Valerie Reubin. “It’s a terrible odor so we need to find out what we can do about it.”

Reubin said she has spoken with officials at the Department of Transportation and the Dallas County Health Department’s (DCHD) Environmental Services office.

“They are in the process of working on it,” Reubin said. “That’s what they told me.”

According to Reubin, the issue will have to be addressed locally since the issue is not on a state right-of-way.

Officials in the DCHD Environmental Services office said that the area would have to dry out before any work could be done – with days of rain on the horizon, it is unclear when anything will be done.

According to Reubin, both offices claim that they have not received any complaints from residents.

“We’ve got to get to the bottom of it and see what’s going on,” Reubin said. “I just feel for the people that live over there. They’ve got to live there 24-7 and I can just imagine what they’re going through. There’s a lot of people concerned.”

Reubin said the water backing up near the houses is nothing new, but that the odor being emitted hasn’t happened before and may indicate a more serious issue.

John Trotter in the DCHD’s Environmental Services office did not respond to a request for comment.