Wastewater plant odors puzzle Elkhart officials

ELKHART, Ind. — A mysterious stench that appears to be emanating from Elkhart's wastewater treatment plant is puzzling officials and causing residents in one neighborhood to hold their noses.

Residents say putrid, sewer-like smells have been cropping up a couple times a week since last summer in a neighborhood north of the plant.

"It's a pretty bad smell," said Cindy Wagner, who lives directly across the lower St. Joseph River from the plant. "It's like an open sewer pit."

Officials say they're puzzled by the odor, which occurs a couple times a week at different times of day and doesn't appear to be affected by temperature.

Utility services manager Laura Kolo told The Elkhart Truth the city is current on its state environmental permits and that she's unaware of any changes of the plant that could be causing the odor.

Amber Kent Finkelstein, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, said the plant was inspected in 2010 and again this year. A compliance inspection in March of 2010 found only minor violations in sanitary sewer overflow and effluent limits, she said.

Kolo said utility officials have asked residents to keep track of when they detect odors to help them solve the problem.

"They are actually going to help us to log the date and time that the odors are being emitted because it is intermittent and it makes it difficult. It's more off than on," Kolo said.

Tim Porsche, who lives near the plant, said the odor is more noticeable early in the morning and when the wind blows from the south or the east.

"We never had that before," he said. "We had some problems maybe 20 years ago, but they had been corrected and the treatment plant seemed to be working fine.