City threatens lawsuit over Fairgrounds stink

some people who live near the state fairgrounds say the stench from piles of horse manure and pud...  More »

some people who live near the state fairgrounds say the stench from piles of horse manure and puddles of animal urine is forcing them to stay indoors. today the city sent state officials a letter demanding them to clean it up, or face a civil lawsuit. jeff maher has the story. manuer piled up so high -- it almost tops the fence. animal urine -- minute thumbnail 10:05 pm and a makeshift bedroom inside a horse stable. these pictures were taken recently by leslie bush, who lives just down the street "this is not a third world country we live in, there's no sewer system over there, it is simply not right" bush is just one of many neighbors who live near the fairgrounds and have complained to the city about the smell and conditio. "that's not the worst of it, the worst of it is the insects, we have so many flies and so many mosquitos that we don't have any quality of life, we can't eat out in our backyard, we can't enjoy any time out there" bush also took pictures of clothes being hung up on clothes lines -- and says she's seen state fair employees living in the stables city officials don't have any jurisdiction at the state fairgrounds, but they can file a civil lawsuit -- and that's just what they are going to do if things are not cleaned up by november 20th. a spokesperson for the state fairgrounds says everything was cleaned up about a week ago, and says there aren't any problems now "to me there is a clear minute thumbnail 10:06 pm violation of a number of environmental health laws and i would hope that the state environmental health would step in and make a demand on their own agency to do something about it" state officials say they're not aware of any employees living in the stables, but they say if that is the case, it's up to the downs racetrack to take care of the problem -- since the downs is leasing the stables.  « Less