Residents Raise Stink About Sewer Plant Smell

Jeannie Wolfberg and her husband, Dennis, four years ago moved to the Raintree residential complex in Culver City, with its artificial lake and lush landscaping, to find serenity on what was once an MGM studio back lot.

But like a cruel joke, they were soon visited by an invisible cloud that made it difficult to breathe, much less relax, in their new home.

Foul-smelling gases from nearby sewage facilities hover over the 564-unit, townhouse-and-condominium complex about once a week, Wolfberg said.

“One weekend it was intolerable,” she said. “It really made your eyes water. I closed up the house and was concerned about letting my boys go outside.”

Jeff Moskin, chairman of the Raintree sewer odor committee, said some residents are afraid to invite guests over for dinner. Sleepers accustomed to fresh night air must shut their windows tight. Other complaints include nausea, asthma and headaches.

“This is olfactory terrorism,” he said. “We never know when the mind-numbing stench will penetrate our innermost retreats.”

The complaints began two years ago when the city of Los Angeles began building the North Outfall Replacement Sewer (NORS). Workers added overflow channels extending to the North Outfall Treatment Facility (NOTF), at 10201 Jefferson Blvd., across the street from Raintree.

The project was completed last month, but hydrogen sulfide gas, the source of the rotten-eggs smell, continued to escape from the system.

Ironically, EPA laws that have improved the quality of sewage have had the side effect of generating more gas, Culver City engineer Jim Davis said. Industrial waste contains fewer heavy metals, which bind sulfides and keep them in solution.

Designers of the sewer didn’t take the extra gas into account, he said. The gas is nontoxic but can be smelled at very low levels.

At the urging of residents, Culver City sent a formal letter demanding that the city of Los Angeles mitigate the odor problems, Culver City Atty. Norman Herring said.

Los Angeles officials responded by sending a group of sanitation engineers and workers to meet with Raintree residents. The Los Angeles team formed an odor abatement task force and came up with nine mitigation measures.

Most have been implemented, said Walter Naydo, construction division engineer of the Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant. Los Angeles workers sealed sewer manhole covers to trap gases, and they distributed complaint forms to help workers pinpoint problems.

The majority of gas probably escapes from the NOTF, where overflow channels have the effect of exposing the sewer system to air. The channels are really surface gutters covered with metal plates. The gutters lead to a million-gallon capacity, underground treatment tank.

Workers have covered the channels with plastic, Naydo said. As an additional temporary measure, inflatable neoprene bulkheads have been installed at the channel entrances in the main line.

But residents are not satisfied with the measures. At a City Council meeting Monday, Moskin asked the city’s support in demanding nothing less than the construction of a dome over the NOTF. He called the temporary mitigation measures “Band-Aids” that won’t work in the long run, pointing out that one bulkhead deflated over the weekend, releasing nauseating fumes.

In addition, Los Angeles is planning to refurbish the old sewer line that NORS replaced. Davis said two sites are being considered from which to begin repairs: behind West Los Angeles College, or along the bluffs below Loyola Marymount University in Westchester.

Moskin demanded that Los Angeles tap into the old sewer line somewhere outside Culver City because opening the old line would add to the existing odor problem.

Naydo said that since the temporary mitigation measures were implemented, the task force has received only one odor complaint and that the group is working on designs for a more permanent solution to trap odors at the NOTF.

“If we can’t control the odors, a canopy would be a solution we would have to consider,” Naydo said.

Despite progress, Raintree residents and Culver City officials are wary of Los Angeles’ promises.

Councilman Steven Gourley recalled promises made when Los Angeles sought approval for construction of the new sewer line and improvements to the NOTF.

“They said you would not hear, see or smell that the facility was there,” he said.

Herring is consulting with the city of El Segundo on possible legal action that Culver City can take against Los Angeles. El Segundo filed a public-nuisance lawsuit against Hyperion over its failure to control odors and won, Herring said.