What's that smell? Complaints pouring in over rotten odor blanketing Louisville
A stench in Louisville is keeping residents awake at night.
The Metropolitan Sewer District and Air Pollution Control District have both seen an uptick in calls and complaints about bad odors in many parts of town. Many mention a sewage smell, and others mention a scent of sulfur or rotten eggs, which also indicate a sewage issue.
"I was awakened 3 times during the night by this stench," said one complaint to the city filed Tuesday morning. "My rest should not be invaded by air pollution. Please do what is needed to stop this."
MSD said a dry spell in town is to blame. Although large amounts of stormwater can cause hazardous sewage overflows, Louisville's combined sewer system relies on some amount of rain to keep sewage from sitting in the pipes.
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With the city's recent pleasant weather, the combined system hasn't had enough stormwater to properly dilute the sewage and keep it moving quickly to the treatment plant. Instead, it's dry and moving slowly in the pipes, creating the rancid odor keeping Louisville up at night.
To remedy the smell, MSD can pump water into the system to help, but that only goes so far, spokesperson Sheryl Lauder said.
"I hate to say this, but it's going to take some rain. There's only so much you can do with a truckload of water," she said Tuesday. "If Mother Nature could just give us half an inch, an inch, it would really help."
MSD's catch basins are also an issue. They help keep odors from escaping into the ambient air. But when they dry up, they can't do that.
Lauder said MSD is working to repair or refill those where the sewage smell has been especially bad.
"We know there are some problems," she said, mentioning West End neighborhoods in particular.
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Many of the odor complaints filed to the city in September have been concentrated in the West End and downtown, according to city data.
Lauder emphasized that reporting sewage odors is important, as it allows MSD to understand where infrastructure needs to be fixed to keep the air fresh.
While dialing 311 is one easy way to report smells, she said MSD will see complaints faster by calling them at 502-540-6000, submitting complaints directly to the district's online portal, or using the Smell MyCity app.
Connor Giffin is an environmental reporter for The Courier Journal and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. He can be reached at cgiffin@gannett.com or on Twitter @giffin_connor.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville sewage smell brings complaints from all over town
