The nose knows – 80th Street smell lifted

An 80^th Street resident plagued by a horrid smell is breathing a little easier, thanks to some help from the Home Reporter.

Virginia H. lives on 80^th Street between Ridge Boulevard and Colonial Road. In February, she noticed a “horrid, putrid” smell in her home. She consulted neighbors, local elected officials and even had a plumber inspect her home, but no one could determine where the smell was coming from.

After she contacted this paper with her woes, we reached out to the Department of Environmental Protection on April 1 to see if the agency could do any further inspections.

Sure enough, on April 3, DEP inspectors came to the 80^th Street block in question and looked under the manholes.

She was told by a DEP worker, “that the sludge was not flowing properly and that he and his crew would correct it,” Virginia explained, adding that the worker told her that if there was any sort of issue, it would be affecting everyone on the block, not just her.

“When they finished, I smelled perfume in the air. From then on – that putrid, sewage smell – I don’t smell anymore,” she said.

But her troubles are not entirely over. The Ridgeite said that she still catches a whiff of a dense, smoky smell when the wind blows from the north and east.

“It’s better than before, but I still smell a bad odor [although] it’s not horrendous,” Virginia said. “I hope it never comes back.

“You have definitely helped,” she told this paper. “If it doesn’t come back, I will be eternally grateful.”