NC town’s residents say they can’t stand water plant’s stench as DEQ asks for solution
Justin Nicolette can’t escape the stench.
Opening a window is not an option. Air fresheners won’t work, either.
Going outside to catch a breath of fresh air is out of the question when the air itself is the problem.
For years, Nicolette and the residents of Stallings, a town mostly in Union County, have been forced to endure a distinctive, pungent odor from the privately owned Aqua North Carolina wastewater treatment plant in Country Woods East. The company, Aqua America, operates privately owned plants in North Carolina and several other states.
“There is no way to deal with it,” said Nicolette, who has lived in the area since 2020 and struggles to enjoy nice fall evenings outside with his daughter. “I mean, it’s just overpowering. It just creeps into your house, and that’s the worst part.”
Ray Kirby, who also lives in the neighborhood, said the odor “smells like rotten eggs as soon as you step out the door.”
Stallings Town Manager Alex Sewell said the smell that “comes in waves” predates his stint in local government. It’s been the subject of consistent complaints among residents. So, Sewell wasn’t the first public official to familiarize himself with the odor. The town’s residents have lamented to anyone who would listen.
April 2018 Stallings city council meeting minutes show John Martin, a city council member, mentioned that he “had received many complaints regarding the odor and noise from the Aqua Waste Water Treatment Plant behind Country Woods East.” In response, Stallings officials have contacted Aqua North Carolina over the years to troubleshoot the odor coming from a wastewater treatment plant, which serves a small portion of the Charlotte suburb.
The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality says the company hasn’t yet responded with a requested plan to address the issue. Aqua, though, told the Observer it’s tried to rectify it.
Wastewater treatment plant company investigates odor
Joe Pearce, the company’s state operations director, first looked into odor concerns in January 2021, according to a report provided by the company. Pearce reportedly used hydrogen sulfide odor loggers in and around the wastewater treatment plant along its sewer collection systems.
The company later hired an environmental consulting firm to complete outdoor ambient air screening for odorous chemicals around the Stallings site, the report said.
Pearce’s investigation, which stretched until April 2021, indicated the primary cause for the odor was an undisclosed discharge originating from the nearby Hawthorne pump station owned by Aqua. However, the report did not detail the extent of the work.
“To date, conditions have significantly improved based on data, review of customer complaints, and field observation by Mr. Pearce,” the report stated.
Aqua North Carolina President Shannon Becker reassured town officials months after the investigation finished that the company was working to resolve the matter because Martin, the town council member, continued to express concerns, according to an email obtained by the Observer.
“I can assure you that we have already made several improvements as a result of Mr. Pearce’s findings,” she wrote in the July 2021 message. “We will continue to monitor the odor issues in an effort to identify and make other improvements as deemed appropriate.”
Stallings accuses Aqua of law violation
The lingering odor prompted Stallings Mayor Wyatt Dunn to write a three-page letter in March 2022 to Aqua North Carolina and state water quality officials with the subject line: “Aqua Sewer Treatment Plant – Terrible Odors.”
In the letter, Dunn outlined complaints the town received and charged Aqua North Carolina and the state with rectifying the odor nuisance under N.C. statute 15A NCAC 02D .1806, which requires commercial businesses, including municipal wastewater treatment plants, processing facilities and agricultural operations, to control and prohibit odorous emissions.
“The state has both a duty and the power to hold Aqua accountable. Aqua is required by law to prevent objectionable odors beyond its facility’s boundary,“ Wyatt wrote. “If not, the state must require Aqua to implement maximum feasible controls for control of odorous emissions.
“It is time for the state to fulfill its duty under the law and ensure the issue is fixed for our residents of Stallings.”
A N.C. Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson told the Observer the agency has known about odor complaints since 2018 and conducted an inspection at the site last month. The agency indicated that the odor at the Aqua facility “is likely coming from an equalization basin” at the Aqua site where raw wastewater is pumped and held in aeration until it is treated.
NCDEQ has requested Aqua North Carolina provide a plan to remedy the issue, such as constructing a biofilter to address the odor, though the agency has yet to receive one.
‘Want to live in peace’
Asked by the Observer about efforts to fix odors, Heather Vail Keefer, a spokeswoman for Aqua North Carolina, said the company installed chemical feeds in 2021 to reduce bacterial levels in its wastewater collection systems.
Upon receiving a residential complaint this year, Aqua conducted an investigation but has been unable “to identify an odor issue on our site,” Keefer told the Observer in a statement.
“We brought in an engineering firm to further evaluate the facility to identify if an issue exists,” she said. “If the engineering firm determines the source of the issue is our facility, we will ask the firm to propose ways we can resolve the issue, and Aqua will take appropriate action.”
The odor remains a quality of life hurdle for residents, said Sewell, the town manager, who said Aqua North Carolina has not planned any further meetings with Stallings officials to discuss the smell.
“From what we’ve heard from residents, it has hindered their ability to use their homes,” he said. “The town isn’t in a position to offer recommendations because we’re not experts in running a wastewater treatment facility. The smell is threatening the ability of the residents to just live in peace.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
