City investigates water leak at vacant South Philadelphia property washing out nearby business

A pipe on a vacant property in Philadelphia has been leaking for more than a year, and there's so much water that it's washed out part of the property at the nearby business.

CBS News Philadelphia first uncovered this situation last week, and now, after our reporting, crews have been on site looking for a fix.

A continual surge of water rushes down a storm drain on Maiden Lane in South Philadelphia, but it's not from rainfall or storm runoff. It's from a leaking pipe on the vacant property behind John Belfie's signage business.

"Today I was out here on the forklift and it's terrible and I start sinking," Belfie, the general manager of M&M Designs, said.

Belfie said it's been leaking for at least a year and turned his entire side lot into a pond that eventually washes out onto the street and down the storm drain.

In just the last few days, it's gotten much worse.

"We're looking at a higher water volume," he said. "Whatever conduit this water's moving through must be failing."

Last week, a Philadelphia Water Department spokesperson said, "The suspected source of the leak is a privately owned vacant pipe, and initial efforts to work with the property owner have been unsuccessful in resolving the issue."

Public records show the property is owned by Atlantic Richfield Company, an affiliate of BP. A spokesperson said, "Atlantic Richfield Company (AR) owns the property at 3223 Maiden Lane. AR is investigating the leaking water line and is working to address the issue."

About 20 feet behind Belfie's fence, a CBS News Philadelphia drone found where the water is coming up from the ground and then running down into Belfie's side lot, around the front and into the street. Last winter, he said, it was a sheet of ice.

"The water company was no help at all," Belfie said. "They weren't doing any research for us and they kind of put it as it was going to be our problem."

A spokesperson with the Philadelphia Managing Director's Office said, "Philadelphia Water Department leak detection crews will return to this location this week to try to identify the source of this leak. Should the leak be on a private water service line, the city will undertake appropriate administrative and if necessary, court action to resolve this hazard."