Stink Continues Over Sludge Site

Stink Continues Over Sludge Site
Katie Landeck
News Staff Writer

GARDNER  With warm days ahead, United Water is working on plans to fix the rotten egg-like stench emanating from the sludge landfill site.

“We are working towards controlling and eliminating the odors,” said Matthew LaPointe, the project manager at United Water. “The pilots will hopefully be starting this summer and we will adjust what we can.”

The pilots will test the use of a chemical additive to help reduce the smell of the sludge before it is buried. They are awaiting approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The chemical, a CDR Maguire engineer explained, adds nitrates to the sludge mixture, giving bacteria food that isn’t sulfides — the substance that is the root cause of the smell — to eat.

“It will trap and hold the smell for 72 hours, giving us time to properly handle the mix and cover it without the malodors being released,” said Mr. LaPointe.

Knowing that certain weather conditions, such as hot, breezy days and days following rain, make the smell worse, United Water has also tweaked its work procedures. If unfavorable conditions are on the horizon, Mr. LaPointe said, United Water will pay its crews overtime to get the work done faster.

United Water is also installing a weather station to better inform its decisions.

To monitor how successful the pilot program and new work procedures are, United Water is looking to create a better system for cataloging the complaints the Gardner Board of Health receives about the landfill’s stench.

At the Board of Health’s meeting on Monday, the Health Department agreed to forward all odor complaints to United Water the day that they are received.

 “We want to start tracking the complaints,” said Mr. LaPointe. “And we’ll send someone over to check them out.”

The plan to address the smells coincides with United Water’s plan for a vertical expansion of the landfill, which has been in operation since the 1980s. Today, the 30-foot-high pile of dirt and waste at 774 West St. is operating over capacity.
“We are working with the DEP towards expansion so they are comfortable with it,” said Mr. LaPointe. Officials anticipate the expansion will extend the life of the landfill until 2018, a temporary solution while the city determines what to do in the long term.

The favored long-term solution at this point, according to officials, is a horizontal expansion, as it would keep residents’ sewer and water costs low. However, the city is also investigating other options, including anaerobic digestion, which could significantly raise rates.