Stinky smell sparks lawsuit from city of Pleasant Grove


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PLEASANT GROVE — Residents in Pleasant Grove are upset about a stench coming from a local sewage treatment facility — but it is not the sewage smell they are upset about. Business leaders, property owners and elected officials gathered on Thursday to protest what they call PGO: Pleasant Grove Odor.

The smell is coming from the composting of biosolids with green waste to make fertilizer used for mulch at the Timpanogos Special Service District, or TSSD, a sewage treatment and wastewater reclamation facility. The sewer plant has been doing this for almost 20 years, but with new development moving in, the smell is too much for some property owners. Pleasant Grove city officials have also joined the fight to try and stop the stench.


It's pretty bad. I mean, people are eating lunch right now, I wouldn't want to be eating while I smelled that.

–Pleasant Grove resident Sheralyn Bennett


"It's pretty bad," said Pleasant Grove resident Sheralyn Bennett. "I mean, people are eating lunch right now, I wouldn't want to be eating while I smelled that. It's (not) a pretty good smell."

The odor is coming from the west side of the freeway where TSSD is located.

"We are a member of the TSSD, ... yet we are outvoted because the other members don't smell the smell we smell," said Pleasant Grove Mayor Bruce Call.

The smell has become an issue in recent years, as farmers' fields turned into prime real estate. City officials claim they are losing out on millions of dollars from business owners who are afraid of the stench.

"Taking human waste and mixing it with green waste and turning it over and letting it bake in the sun, right there in the middle of where we live, and we want that stopped," Call said.

Not all oppose the process, however.

"The composting is an approved EPA process to condition our biosolids for disposal," said Jon Adams, TSSD facility manager.


The composting is an approved EPA process to condition our biosolids for disposal.

–Jon Adams, TSSD facility manager


Three years ago, the sewage facility made several improvements to the process, including covering the compost piles.

Officials say composting the solid waste, instead of hauling it away, saves taxpayers a lot of money on their monthly bills.

"As far as the entire district goes, it's been a popular program that has been cost effective," Adams said. "Over the years the district has invested a lot of money into the process."

Pleasant Grove has filed a lawsuit, determined to clear the air of the stench.

"We hope to resolve this very quickly," Call said. "No one wants this to go to trial, we just want the onsite composting stopped."

The lawsuit is still in the early stages, so it could still be some time until this is all resolved — but on Thursday, a hot and windy day, the opponents believe it was a good day to try to make their point.

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