KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — People in Elgin near Watson Road say there's been a smell in the air that's downright unbearable.
"Oh, it's God awful," Elgin resident Kenneth Parker said. "It smells like you opened a septic tank."
Every time Parker walks outside, he says he's greeted with the foul smell, and it's been around for years. "Easily 4 or 5 years," Parker said.
It's left him asking, "Where is it coming from and what is it?"
Kershaw County Council Member Derek Shoemake lives in the area. He's also smelled it and said it comes from air-release valves related to the county sewer and SCWU-PUI, Inc.
"Most of those complaints really stem from sort of two issues and that sewer lift stations owned by two different entities," Shoemake said. "In sewer stations, the lines are closed off and so you have the wastewater running through these closed-off lines. What happens is the bacteria in waste treatment and the bacteria in the waste pipes rather, feed off oxygen, so once it effectively eats that oxygen that's in these pipes it creates hydrogen which creates that smell."
What's being done?
We reached out to SCWU-PUI, Inc. A spokesperson for the company released the following statement:
"PUI, Inc. is aware that some of our customers in the Kershaw County service territory may have experienced an intermittent unpleasant odor over the past several days…We want to assure our customers and the local community that we have taken action to address the issue promptly and effectively, in part by installing new air filters in the area, While we expect that the steps we have taken have already resolved the issue, we apologize for any inconvenience and assure our customers that the system is operating as it should."
The county is also making efforts to fix issues.
"We're in the midst of a $10 million, or about to begin, a $10 million sewer upgrade," Shoemake said. "That comes from grant money from the state, and part of this $10 million upgrade will increase capacity, which increases flow and inherently increases the oxygen in the lines."
The county says it has also done filter replacements.