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City Leaders Look to Rid Raleigh of Smelly Situation

Getting rid of a foul odor from a sewer pump station near part of Raleigh's Interstate 440 Beltline will cost about $500,000, the city's public utilities director said Tuesday.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Getting rid of a foul odor from a sewer pump station near part of Raleigh's Interstate 440 Beltline will cost about $500,000, the city's public utilities director said Tuesday.

The sewer pump station near N.C. Highway 264 and the I-440 interchange collects about a third of the sanitary sewage from North Raleigh.

"We have covered the wet wells where the sewer gas collects in the pump station, and we collect that through a vacuum system," Utilities Director Dale Crisp said. "That sewer gas is then pumped into a tank."

Design costs on a new tank, which is expected to cut down on the smell, Crisp said, will cost about $100,000. That funding will come from the city's Capital Improvement program.

Crisp said he hopes designs for the new tank will be completed by the fall and that construction will begin shortly thereafter.

With new housing developments on the way there, nearby residents say the cost is a wise investment for the city.

"If I were looking for a home, and I smelled that horrible smell, I would not buy a home in this area," said David Hoover, who commutes through the area on a regular basis.

Motorists, like Hoover, who travel the area, said the smell is particularly bad in the summer, because it lingers because of the humidity.

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