Aging Sewer Line Blamed For Foul Stench In Atwater Village

ATWATER VILLAGE (CBSLA.com) — Something is rotten in Atwater Village - and now city officials are hoping to clean it up.

CBS2's Art Barron reports the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation has come up with a plan to control fumes and odors from venting out of the local sewer system along Glenfeliz Boulevard.

The estimated $700,000 solution will target over 100 homes between Los Feliz and Glendale boulevards affected by the smell, which officials believe comes from an aging sewer line that lets odors waft into homes through rooftop vents.

Barry Berggren, Wastewater Collections Division Manager with the Bureau of Sanitation, said the affected homes are connected to the original four-foot-in-diameter sewer line that was built in 1929.

"As the population increases and there's more flow in the sewer, there's less space for the air that's naturally occuring in the sewer, and it comes out," Berggren said.

Resident John Flynn is among those homeowners affected by the odors.

"We ended up getting a filter that you can buy, a charcoal filter," Flynn said. "We put that at the top of the vent pipe, and that seemed to solve it."

In response, the Bureau has hired four contractors to begin installing gas traps in the area starting in September. Residents can expect to receive letters next week that will alert them to the project and obtain the right of entry to perform the work on their property, according to Berggren.

The letters will also request permission to install CCTV cameras underground to monitor the connection, according to The EastSider LA.

Officials expect the project to be completed by November.