A stinky situation in Tampa

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

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A tank at the treatment plant remained filled with raw sewage after a mechanical failure.

There's a big stink in the Town 'n' Country area of Tampa.

A wastewater treatment plant, more than 30 years old, had a major failure last week.

Residents nearby are still struggling to find fresh air over the smell of raw sewage. And things may get worse before they get any better.

Workers spent most of last week cleaning out thousands of gallons of sewage from a broken tank and a contractor is on site this week trying to assess exactly what kind of repairs need to be made at the River Oaks plant.

But in the meantime, every time the wind blows residents are reminded of the smelly situation. And making the situation even worse is that the odor control system had to be taken off line last week while workers drained the tank.

Wastewater Plant Problem

Community stinks

"Smells bad, huh,'' said Town 'n' Country resident Luis Lebron. "In the morning time, in the afternoon, this stink is bad. It's so bad that I'm checking myself. Is it me?"

An antiquated mechanical rake at the plant is to blame. The rake is designed to keep the sludge moving, but after breaking down last week, sewage just sat still in an open tank.

Though Hillsborough County Water Resource workers cleaned out the sludge, the stink could continue to stick around until June while the repair work is done.

However, officials said local residents can look forward to a better and brand-new, odor-control system that will be installed during the repair process.

"It's a problem we're really well aware of,'' said Pam Greene, environmental services manager with Hillsborough County Water Resources. "We made an energy purchase earlier in this week to put misting equipment on the site so that would help disperse the odors as well, while we were having to do this repair."

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