Clearing the air:
Officials hope to resolve odor concerns in Foothills; meeting set for Tuesday
A community meeting being held in the Foothills on Tuesday will bring state enforcement officials down from Phoenix in hopes of finding some way to resolve long-festering complaints over foul smells which have pitted residents against a local sewer provider.
Residents believe the odors are wafting over their neighborhoods from Far West Water and Sewer Co,’s treatment plants and lift stations, scattered throughout the unincorporated area east of Yuma mainly populated by retirees who are seasonal residents.
Evonne Crowley, 80, a former part-time resident who now lives year-round in a home near 50th Street and Avenue 14 1/2 E just south of the Las Barrancas Golf Course, said she now rents out the home where she used to live, further southwest near 54th Street and Ironwood Drive, building a new home in 2005.
“We moved over here because the smell was so bad over there. People couldn’t go out and sit around the fire, or play music or whatever, because the smell was so bad. So we bought property over here, and now that smell has moved over here too,” she said.
Issues with Far West’s sewer service have threaded through the life she and many others have had in the Foothills. She helped circulate petitions opposing a sewer rate hike being sought by Far West. “I walked my little fanny up and down these streets, getting people to sign,” she said.
One proposed increase was denied by the Arizona Corporation Commission in 2009, but a 162 percent hike did win approval in 2013.
Crowley and her sister, who lived next door to her at her first Foothills home, used to regularly call state and county authorities with their complaints about the sewer odor, which they feared was a signal of serious health hazards coming from the system, to what she said was no avail.
“There were a lot of people
complaining back then and it didn’t do any good, really. And she passed away in 2004, so she don’t even know nothing about this business going on,” she said.
When the winter tourism season started up again last fall, what had become a lower-priority problem for the area came back to the front burner as more residents complained to officials including Yuma County Supervisor Darren Simmons, whose district includes the Foothills.
After a November community meeting he held at the Foothills Library was packed with more than 60 people venting their frustration about odors and other issues they linked to Far West, he said he would ask officials from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the Corporation Commission to come down to Yuma and hear their frustration for themselves.
“I hope they come down here with open ears and open minds, and hear the people and give them something, some resolution or some hope that this issue’s going to be taken care of,” Simmons said.
The meeting will begin 6 p.m. Tuesday at Gila Mountain United Methodist Church, 12716 N. Frontage Road (just west of Foothills Boulevard). Simmons said several employees of ADEQ’s air quality division are expected to attend, as well as a representative from the Corporation Commission, either a commissioner or an employee. The Yuma County Public Health District will have someone there as well.
Andy Capestro, the manager of Far West, said he will be there as well. He’s still confident the bacteriabased chemicals the company began introducing into its sewer system last May is reducing the odors from its facilities, because the organisms are digesting the solids coming in as it flows through the pipes, pulled by gravity toward the treatment plants.
“We know with the people complaining, there’s an odor. Where it’s coming from, I think there’s a very small possibility it’s coming from a sewer plant because of all this stuff we’re putting into it, and I’m extremely happy with the way this is going,” he said.
Don Osborne of Miles Chemical Company, a consultant to Far West who recommended the company try the microbial treatment from AcquaClara Solutions, said data from the sewer plants show a decrease in the gases produced by sewage treatment that create its “rotten egg” smell and other indicators.
Capestro said it will cost about $300,000 a year to continue the regimen, which appears to be reducing the odors, and he’s committed to continuing it.
Osborn said, “Our finding is that Far West has been overly concerned about the citizens of the area, not about their business model. So with them, that commitment has been our commitment, and we’ve seen a tremendous amount of reduction in odor complaints. We’ve had state agencies come down and check them off with five-star stories that everything is great, and that’s where we are today.”
Roxanne Fiddes, Far West’s office manager, said her staff has fielded “probably less than 20” complaints since the winter season began, when in previous years they have gotten 10 per day.
ADEQ has received 21 complaints related to Far West’s sewer odor since last May, spokeswoman Erin Jordan said. One was received that month, none from June through August, then three to four per month through January, except for a spike of seven in November.
When the complaints were investigated, authorities found the odor was linked to fertilizer being used on a nearby golf course, not a Far West sewer facility, and no specific source was found for most of the other complaints.
Capestro gave the Sun a copy of a report from an ADEQ air quality field inspector, Sean McFatter, who responded to a Dec. 14 complaint about a strong odor coming from either the Far West pump station at 38th Street and Foothills Boulevard (the now-closed Hank’s Market) or a manhole at Glenwood Avenue and 36th Street, keeping the sender awake at night and causing a headache.
McFatter noted in the report there had been “numerous similar complaints of sewer smell odors” to ADEQ in the last few months.” He said he took one walk around the area at night and another the following morning, but detected no foul odors. He used the phrase “did not notice any sewer odor” or words to that effect 16 times.
He noted seeing a septic tank being pumped at a home near the site of the complaints, which surprised him because septic systems weren’t mentioned in any of the Far West complaints and they are also a possible sewer odor source.
Capestro said Far West serves neighborhoods south of 44th Street on the west side of Foothills Boulevard, along with most of the southeasternmost edge, around its Marwood plant and the Foothills Golf Course, a total of about 7,000 sewer customers versus 9,000 septic tanks in use.
He said he is willing to pay for consultants to evaluate homes with a septic that might be creating a smell, if the owner requests it.
“Basically, we’re trying to determine whether or not a lot of this is coming from septic tanks, because you’re surrounded by them, a lot more than people think,” he said.
But Simmons is skeptical of this theory and is hoping Foothills residents make a show of force at Tuesday’s meeting: “It’ll send a signal to these people from Phoenix that there is an issue here. You know, it’s not septic tanks that are smelling. It’s an issue that can be fixed, you just have to spend the money to fix it. Or maybe it won’t cost a lot of money, but it can be fixed, and it hasn’t been for years.”
Many Foothills residents have the same frustration and are happy to talk to anyone who’s willing to listen.
The odor is not a constant presence, but is often noticeable, depending on things like wind direction or elevation. And they’re angry because they don’t feel the money from the 2013 rate increase has done anything to improve the air quality around their homes.
Most of those who contacted the Sun for this story are longtime part- or full-time residents on the southeastern side of the Foothills, on or near the Fortuna Wash from about 48th Street down to 56th.
“We invested some money here...we’re ashamed to go down certain streets because they smell so darn bad, and they shouldn’t have that problem,” said Robert McLennon. “It can’t be sanitary.”
He added, “I have people come from out of town, and they’re interested in coming here, and then they smell that, and they don’t want nothing to do with coming here.”
Al Cooper said, “We try to do the best we can, and if it’s nasty outside with that smell, we try not to go outside and keep all the windows closed and everything, but sometimes you can’t help it, you still have to go outside when you have to do something. You have to go outside, and that smell hits you as soon as you go outside, and you feel kind of crappy smelling that.”
“Imagine trying to enjoy the evening with dinner outdoors and suddenly everything smells like a sewer. Imagine cooking that dinner for friends and everyone starts gagging... before they have a chance to enjoy what you spent hours preparing,” said Debbie Shea.
She and others worried their home’s value is being driven down by the recurring issue. Donna White, a Yuma realtor, said the issue may be affecting sales in that same area along Fortuna Wash, but it appears to be small.
“Some of the houses are a little difficult to sell because of the smell, but at the end of the day we have all the sun and the fun, and if they want to buy the house, it doesn’t matter,” she said.
Neil Tucker, another longtime resident, said Tuesday’s meeting will the first one he can think of when a large meeting to address the Far West issue will be held in Yuma, during the winter season when most residents are here: “This is a unique opportunity.”
He said moving to get away from the odor has not been an option.
“We love it here. We’ve talked about moving, but it’s just not something we want to do. And there are government regulations and restrictions on the maintenance of a wastewater system. And part of the disappointment is that our government hasn’t done anything to fix this. They’ve given them obscene increases in fees, and still haven’t forced them to solve their problem,” he said.
“Part of me wishes we could send the poop to the government.”