Foul odor from wastewater plant stirs residents

Residents living on Whitefish’s southeast side have banded together in demanding the city address a foul odor wafting from the wastewater treatment facility.

The stench, these neighbors say, has become progressively worse over the past year and is now at the point that it’s unbearable.

“We can’t use our porch, we can’t open windows, we can hardly go out and mow our yards,” said Ned Nixon, who lives on Arielle Way along the Whitefish River.

City officials say they’re aware of the issue and are working to mitigate the odors.

For the better part of two decades, Linda Coco and her husband Joe have lived in the neighborhood directly north of the treatment facility. They say there has always been a few days a year when a “faint sewer smell” wafts over the neighborhood — but nothing like it’s been for the past year.

Coco’s case in point came as recently as last weekend.

“On the evening of May 7, the odor was so strong that it seeped into our home despite having doors and windows closed,” Coco said.

The sewer smell lingered into the next morning.

“When I walked into Shopko on Mother’s Day, the stench hung there, as well. A family riding their bikes into our subdivision commented on the dank odor.”

Shady River Lane resident Catherine Owens said the smell Saturday was “positively terrible.”

“I know of one couple who has had to leave their home at night because the smell is so bad,” she said. “People are not opening their windows on hot nights, when they are desperate for cooler air, because the air is so rancid. We are unable to enjoy outdoor visiting and dining during these beautiful Whitefish evenings because the air smells so toxic. All of this and we are paying a sewer bill. Just doesn’t make sense.”

Nixon has spearheaded the “Stop the Odor” campaign to take on the issue.

In his conversations with city officials, Nixon says he’s been given “boilerplate” responses that inversions are to blame, that the smell will subside when microbe activity picks up, and that facility upgrades within the next five years will fix the issue.

Those answers aren’t enough for the more than 300 neighbors who have signed a petition asking the city to address the odor.

“We have experienced inversions in the past but without the dreadful, all-pervasive stench,” Coco said.

She also notes that the facility upgrades are years away from happening.

“We need to solve this problem now,” she added. “Residents are having to endure this. With tourist season upon us, does the city want a reputation for having putrid air?”

Nixon says he’s putting all of his energy into having the odor issues addressed sooner than later and has invited officials from the Department of Environmental Quality to evaluate the plant and discuss options.

“We know there are other things that can be done,” Nixon said.

He suggests the treatment plant might be antiquated and over taxed with Whitefish’s expanding population.

“We’ve approved four subdivisions, three hotels are going up... this will only exasperate the problem,” Nixon said.

Property values are on the minds of many living near the facility, as well.

“If we decide to move, we have to disclose this condition exists,” Nixon said. “What do you think that does [to the property value]?”

The bottom line, residents impacted by the smell want action now. Nixon says he’s willing to explore legal options if necessary and some residents have discussed the possibility of some sort of protest.

“I’m not being dramatic when I say this,” Nixon said. “We cannot live our lives under the current situation.”

Whitefish Mayor John Muhlfeld says he appreciates the neighborhoods’ patience and tolerance while the city attempts to remedy the issue.

“[The odor] is unpleasant, and no one doubts that,” Muhlfeld said. “The unseasonably warm weather this spring caused some changes in how the sewer lagoons cycle and process waste, which has caused some of the problem. We can’t control Mother Nature, and unfortunately, until the plant is fully upgraded and operational in 2021, there may be times when mitigating the odor pollution is quite frankly out of the city’s control. But what I will tell you is reducing noise and odor pollution are very important engineering criteria moving forward with the design of the new wastewater treatment facility.”

“It’s easy for me to sit here and ask folks to be patient because I am not personally impacted where I live, but the city remains concerned, and will continue to do everything it can, within reason, to address the issue.”

City Public Works Director Craig Workman says one problem area that’s been identified is an elevated sludge level in one of the wastewater lagoons. His crews are currently raising the water level in that pond and will be adding an enzyme to help digest the solids.

Workman said none of the remedies are an immediate fix, but he believes the smell will dissipate soon.

“When will it be better? I can’t put an exact day or week on it, but the odor will begin to dissipate in the next week or two,” he said.

He said there are no health issues associated with the odors.

“Really the odor is a combination of a number of gases that don’t smell good, but they’re not dangerous,” he said.

Odors from the spring turnover of the lagoons will be an ongoing problem until the facility is upgraded, Workman added.

“But there are things we can do in the fall to be better prepared,” he said, noting the “lessons learned” from this spring.