A break in a sewer line in St. Petersburg is causing wastewater to be released into Joe's Creek and neighboring areas. It's also creating quite the unpleasant smell for people living in the neighborhood.

Officials say the break is located at 7780 62nd Avenue North and residents should refrain from participating in any recreational activity in the waterway.

The line, which carries wastewater to the South Cross Bayou Water Reclamation Facility, ruptured Saturday at approximately 11:30 p.m.

Repairs are estimated to take at least 48 hours.  Crews had difficulty determining which line was ruptured, as there are two sewage lines that run side-by-side in the area.

It is estimated that there is 250 to 500 gallons of wastewater being released per minute, and approximately 300,000 gallons so far.

"It's stinky when you get over there," said Jordan Kelshaw, 10, who had just got home from Disney with her grandparents Saturday night to find crews in front of their property.  Workers had to remove part of their fence, and dig in their yard to reach the broken pipe.

"We're just lucky enough to have it in our yard," joked Bill Kelshaw.

Across the street, and upwind, Northside Christian School, school officials said no sewage had reached their property.  Still, with all the repair work so close-by, they're delaying start times and extending release times by 30 minutes for several hundred preschoolers and elementary students for the next 3 days.  Middle school and high school students are on their regular schedule.

"I thought if it smelled horrible we needed to cancel. So the smell is not as bad as I was anticipating so I'm thankful for that," said Tessa Madasz, a spokesperson for the school.

The odor is just one concern for repair crews, with the sewage flowing down Joe's creek, in to the bay and eventually out to Gulf waters. The biggest problem, said Tom Iovino with Pinellas County, is that they're forced to allow the flow of sewage to continue as they make repairs because the system is pressurized.

"If we turn the pressure off there would be flooding and leakage in other parts of the system. And then we'd have multiple situations to handle instead of just one," said Iovino.

To reduce the amount of sewage flowing downstream, crews are using pumps to remove as much as possible as it flows from the pipe, and hauling it away in tanks on trucks to a treatment facility.

County officials said the FL Department of Environmental Protection has been notified.  Water testing is also being conducted downstream.

It is believed that the excessive rain caused pressure on the system, resulting in the break.