For months, Sanford residents have griped about an awful stench — think spoiled eggs and raw sewage — that has permeated the downtown district and made it almost impossible to breathe without a wince.
“Sometimes it smells like a big pile of fish stacked outside of your door,” said Denny Gibbs, a downtown resident for more than 20 years. “It comes and goes. But when it comes, it really blankets the whole area. It’s nauseating.”
Now some relief from the noxious odors is on the way, according to Sanford officials.
In a message posted on the city’s website, and social media accounts, City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr. on Thursday said the smell appears to be emanating from the city’s wastewater treatment plant off East Seminole Boulevard.
To quench the stench, city crews have started replacing one of the “odor control units,” which is essentially an exhaust system, and upgrading a “sludge drying system” at the plant overlooking Lake Monroe.
“We understand this is not just an inconvenience — it affects your daily lives, and we take that seriously,” Bonaparte said in the message to residents. “We appreciate your continued patience as we work toward a full and lasting resolution.”
Because the new exhaust system needs to be custom built, it has taken some time to arrive and install, Mayor Art Woodruff said.
The project should be completed by late November.
In the meantime, city crews will install by next week a temporary “non custom-made fan” and exhaust system that may provide noses some relief, Woodruff said.
Even so, residents have been raising a stink online.
“I have to hold my nose when I ride by on the lakefront,” a woman said on a Facebook page devoted to Sanford. “It smells like baby diapers.”
Another resident posted: “The city needs to buy some Febreze in bulk.”
Woodruff said he’s received a lot of complaints. And as a downtown resident he understands.
“Some days it can be really bad, depending on which way the wind is blowing,” Woodruff said. “But some days, I’m downtown and there wasn’t anything at all…But I know, it can be really bad.”
It’s not the first time Sanford has faced a mishap at the aging plant, officially known as the North Water Reclamation Facility.
In early 2024, more than 13 million gallons — about 26 Olympic swimming pools — of partially-treated sewage spilled into Lake Monroe, leading the city to spend $4.7 million in upgrades and repairs.
In the coming weeks, public works officials are scheduled to present city commissioners with a report that will include an estimated cost of building a new wastewater treatment facility to replace the existing one.
Malodorous air wafting around downtowns is uncommon but does happen.
For example, Mount Dora residents have long been plagued by a mysterious stench.
A recent consultants’ report contracted by the town and Lake County found a construction and debris landfill off State Road 46 is the likely source of the smell, as it is emitting a hydrogen sulfide gas.
But in Sanford, Gibbs said the city should have jumped on the smelly situation much sooner.
“It’s been a long, long time coming,” she said regarding the city’s fix. “They should’ve gotten ahead of this.”