Question
I recently tilled a garden area at my new rental house and there are a few strange areas where smelly water is seeping. At first I thought maybe I hit a sprinkler system but upon further investigation with my shovel and hands, I find no pipes, and every spot where this is occurring there are cut and damaged tree roots. Now, I don't know what kind of trees these are, light colored flaky paper bark on them. And as I dig deeper, there is just regular moisture, It's just the top few inches that are saturated with this smelly tree root watery discharge. What does this mean and is it normal and safe to still plant my garden here. I checked other areas of the smelly soil but everywhere else smells like normal dirt, just the areas where the roots and leaking water smell, and it smell like death.

Answer
Sounds like where the root was cut the tree is seeping out sap. What you describe is a river birch which contains a lot of water. The leakage will stop as the cut on the roots heal. This will not harm your garden. Go ahead and plant you will see no problem with the sap.