The rotten smell that has plagued some residents in an area between Glen Ellyn and Lombard for the last two months appears to have given way to crisp fall air.
Since late July, a foul odor from the Glenbard Wastewater Authority’s treatment plant along the East Branch of the DuPage River near Route 53 has wafted through the Butterfield West subdivision. At times, the stench has gotten so bad that residents say they’ve stayed indoors or closed their windows, and some believe the odor has resulted in ailments ranging from scratchy throats and stuffy noses to nausea and vomiting.
But since this past weekend, there is no hint of the smell.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Cathy Hosek, a neighboring resident, said Wednesday. “I have not personally smelled anything for the last couple of days.”
The problem started when the wastewater treatment plant’s system was overloaded. The agency, run jointly by the villages of Glen Ellyn and Lombard, began accepting outside food, oil and grease waste nearly a year ago as a way to help power the plant’s systems.
“Unfortunately, we overfed the system,” Glen Ellyn Village Manager Mark Franz said. “The (plant’s) digester got upset and caused an odor.”
The outside waste was used to create what’s known as a biogas, which in turn helped power the plant’s operating systems. The operation saved about $500,000 a year in energy costs, Franz said.
There are “still some real benefits,” he said. “But we have to do it in a more regulated fashion.”
The authority has since instituted a moratorium on accepting any outside waste, Franz said. That was among several measures taken in recent weeks to address the problems, with efforts also including everything from deodorizers to offloading sludge.
“We’re happy to report that it appears to be back to normal,” Franz said Tuesday, noting there were no complaints over the unseasonably warm weekend.
The odor sparked complaints from neighboring residents over the last several weeks and drew dozens to a community meeting at a nearby school.
And though the smell seems to be gone, neighboring residents are keeping careful watch.
“I think the proof is going to be in the results. If we start noticing change, that’s fantastic,” said Heather Sebahar. “The fact that we already had this big issue concerns me for the future, but I do have faith that we are being heard as a community and they are taking effective actions to fix the problem.”
Environmental testing showed no health hazards, officials said, though some residents have requested that a medical expert be consulted to address their concerns.
Authority board members said they plan to establish an ad hoc committee to address concerns. Residents of the unincorporated Butterfield West neighborhood hope to have representation on that panel.
Franz said the moratorium on outside waste will continue until policies are reviewed and updated. He anticipated the moratorium would last at least a “few more months.”
Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter.
