It’s not your imagination — ‘bad odors’ are back in College Township
If you live in, work in or have driven through College Township, you might have noticed something overwhelming lately.
The smell.
This isn’t the first time odors have gotten bad — residents have been complaining intermittently about the smell from the University Area Joint Authority wastewater treatment facility located on Spring Valley Road in College Township for years.
In January, UAJA announced it would undertake a $10 million project to address the odor coming from its wastewater treatment facility, which was primarily caused by the biofilter that worked to try to reduce odors associated with the compost facility.
But recently, there has been an intensification of odors. “The odors are indeed a result of the construction project,” said UAJA Executive Director Cory Miller. “We reached the point where the old odor control facility was in the way of the new ... facility.”
Originally, UAJA had planned to construct a new odor control facility while continuing to use the old one, but Miller said that plan would have cost almost $3.5 million over the estimated budget. They scrapped the idea, which delayed the project from its initial April start date, and decided to build a new facility directly on top of the old one — but that involved leveling the old facility.
Demolition of the old odor control facility occurred Dec. 4, said Miller. Since then, there has been no odor control for the compost facility — and there won’t be any for another six months.
“Some of the really bad odors were from the removal of the old biofilter media,” Miller said. “The odors that had been trapped for many, many years were then released. ... That material has all been removed now. The odors that are being noticed now are entirely from the compost facility.”
UAJA is taking steps to minimize the smell, beginning by turning the pipes holding the odor up and encasing them in the new concrete facility quickly. But, Miller acknowledged that some odor will persist.
“There will be odors ... for the duration of this project,” he said.
The project completion date is set for July 2019, and Miller noted that there are penalties the contractor, general construction company Global Heavy, will face if the new facility is not completed on time.
As for the smell, Miller said, UAJA tried to schedule work in the wintertime “when people are not outdoors as much.” But he knows it is something unpleasant residents and passersby must endure for six months: “In the grand scheme of things, it’s a short period of time.”
This story was originally published December 20, 2018 at 12:56 PM.
.jpg)