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Randall Jeppesen and Whit Johnson reporting There's some good news for those who often complain about a not-so-nice smell near the western edge of American Fork and Pleasant Grove.
Alongside I-15 in American Fork there's been a lot of growth, business and residential, but every now and then it really stinks. That's because there's a big sewage treatment plant just down the road.
Recently there have been more complaints about the smell, and one reason more people might be noticing it is the proximity of the Timpanogos Special Service District sewage plant to their businesses.
When it was originally built, the plant was considered to be in the middle of nowhere, but that's no longer the case. Development and businesses are creeping closer and closer to the plant.
According to American Fork city officials, the plant serves several communities in Utah County. Most of the smell comes from sewage-drying beds that are exposed to the air.
Board members say the heavy winter we've had has also made things worse. "Those drying beds haven't been able to dry out the sewage like they would in the winters we've had in the past, and so the odor has been more severe this year," explained Dale Gunther, Timpanogos Special Service District board member.
The good news for residents here is the plant is already doing something about the smell. In the process of expanding its capacity, it will begin drying the sewage in a new indoor facility.
Debbie Lauret, director of the American Fork Chamber of Commerce, just toured the sewer plant and is happy to say the smells should be diminishing. "It don't think it will ever not smell, but I think it will be less noticeable," she said.
The smell should start getting better in the next few months. According to the mayor of American Fork, by the end of the summer they hope most of the issues will be solved.
"I think the cities are trying to address this, and the Timpanogos Special Services District, the sewer plant folks, have responded, and I think they're going to get it solved. I'm very optimistic about it, really," Mayor Heber Thompson said.
All of these projects will be expensive, but American Fork city officials say they believe the impact on taxpayers will be minimal. That should be a breath of fresh air to businesses and everyone else in the area.
