Stinky valve removed, church breathing easy
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BATON ROUGE - A valve releasing a stinky odor is gone, following a 2 On Your Side report last June.
Ted Lee, who attends Korean Baptist Church, says the 20-foot pipe was only supposed to be on the church's property for about six months. He says a representative from the City-Parish visited the church and pitched the idea for the temporary valve in 2016.
The valve was at Burgin Avenue and Boston Street behind the church. It stood on top of a concrete slab. The valve was connected to the sewer force main that pumps from Pump Station No. 5 on Valley Street to South Wastewater Treatment Plant on Gardere Lane. It allowed the air in the force main pipe to dissipate, releasing a smell into the air.
Lee said the smell was awful.
"You know, bathroom, sewage," he said.
This week, the pipe was removed and a permanent odor control unit was installed, making the air smell clean once again. The solution is designed to entrap and filter the current volume of air.
Wharton-Smith, INC. has been contracted by the City-Parish for the work. Supervisor John Hendrix tells WBRZ his crew tied a new line onto the existing line and ran it underground to the odor control unit, which is not on the church's property.
"All of that was removed and everything new installed is installed on the city's servitude," said Hendrix. "Very little impact to their property."
Lee says he can now take a deep breath at church, no problem.
"I'm so happy about it," he said.
Hendrix anticipates the work to wrap up by early next week.