Pictures are worth a thousand words, but what about a smell? Or as is the case of a Martensville neighbourhood – a stench.
Residents in the south end of the city are saying they’ve been dealing with an unbearable smell all summer. A waste water lagoon is the source of the foul smell.
“It’s just horrible,” said Ted Hrebenuik, a Martensville resident who’s sick of the stench. “You come outside and let the dog out and all you want to do is get back in the house as soon as you can because it’s just horrible.”
According to Hrebenuik, the smell is worst in the evenings. People have been keeping their windows closed, and some have even resorted to putting air fresheners in front of fans to cover up the odor from the lagoon.
The City of Martensville admitted the smell is bad, but said it isn’t a health hazard.
“We've had it tested by our staff and we're working with environment as well and it’s a nontoxic odour but an annoying odor,” said Martensville City Manager Scott Blevins.
The city said the hot summer with little rain meant the water didn’t get diluted. They also added that expanding the lagoon might have added to the problem, but they said it didn’t cause it.
"We're not ignoring the issue and we're dealing with it. And even the treatments we've done in the last while will end up costing us 10 to 15 up to 20 thousand dollars to get it under control but that needs to be done,” Blevins said.
Residents are wondering why it’s taken until now to do the testing, even though the smell began in the Spring.
The City of Martensville said they hope to eliminate the smell this fall but they can’t promise it won’t return next spring.
Hrebenuik said if it stays this bad he’ll consider moving. “It’s not just a little smell,” he said. “It’s overpowering here.”
