MENANDS, N.Y. (NEWS10) — People who live and work in North Albany and Menands have complained about smelly air for nearly a decade. Now some area residents are questioning the safety of what they’ve been breathing.
“[It’s] getting worse and worse every year, you’d think they would fix it,” said Larry Arno who lives in North Albany.
Nichole Marshall, who also lives in the neighborhood said, “You can’t go outside and sit on your porch and enjoy the summer breeze at all. You basically wake up smelling poop.”
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) said the air is not toxic and they are working with the county to mitigate the smell. “We’re finding operational problems that need to be addressed and corrected. A lot of times odors may seem unpleasant, but it’s not causing a health risk,” Sean Mahar, Regional Director, Region 4 said there are corrective measures in place now to help with smelly air. “What you have is an aging plant that is obviously encountering issues that need to be addressed. And when it comes to odors, there are different operational and institutional controls you can do. There are different types of deodorizers, so you can try to see if it works.”
The water treatment plant has been given several Notices of Violation (NOV) from DEC but there has been no penalty assessed at this time. “Right now, our focus is on making sure that they’re taking steps to address this odor issue and really making sure that we are improving the odors in this area. So aside from any fines, penalties or anything like that, we want to see things get corrected,” explained Mahar.
Arno and Marshall both said something more needs to be done to get rid of the smell. “Build a new system but do something besides putting some kind of powder in there,” said Arno.
Marshall explained, “It comes early in the morning and then again around 7:30, 8:00 p.m. It’ll just reappear again. But I have to say, lately I haven’t been smelling it that strong from here. But as you go around the corner, you smell it.”
A spokesperson with Albany County said, “We’re currently in design for improvements that are expected to help mitigate odors and we’re currently evaluating a different chemical addition to our sludge tanks as an interim measure.”
If you smell the bad air you are encouraged to reach out to the Albany County Water Purification District or visit the Odor Report Form. You may also contact the facility directly by calling (518) 447-1611.
