Sewage Sludge Stinks Up Sag Harbor

The Sag Harbor Sewage Treatment Plant pumped out enough sludge to create a “malodorous activity” that contributed to “a little aroma” and residents’ complaints, according to Sag Harbor Village Trustee Aiden Corish. 

The Sag Harbor American Music Festival held Sept. 26-29 was blamed for generating the sludge that produced the menacing smell, officials told residents who complained at the Oct. 8 Sag Harbor Village Board meeting. 

Pumping out sludge, as is the norm on early Tuesday mornings, is “always going to cause a little aroma,” Corish told the attendees, adding with a chuckle. “Sometimes it causes people walking by to take a second whiff.”

During their rundown of committee reports and the public session where residents aired their complaints, the trustees were met repeatedly with the same growing concern: smelly wafts of sewage forming a blanket over the village. 

While Corish did confirm that the plant employs two odor suppressant methods, the first being a vapor that is sprayed and the second being a tank cover with charcoal filters for tanks, the trustee in charge of the department also has a majority of tanks that remain uncovered. Five of the main tanks are still open and due to a shortage in manpower, even if the board approves new technology to curb the smell, the village would need the right people who balance youth and experience to run the machinery. 

Sag Harbor Mayor Thomas Gardella reported that he, too, received many complaints — including emails and a Facebook message — related to the sewer smell during the music festival. 

The whole ordeal “got me to do some thinking and investigating, and as you [pointing to Corish] know, there are technologies out there that will suppress the odor,” the mayor said, promising to work with Corish to determine the feasibility.

“It’s something that we really need to exhaust every measure to try to solve that problem,” the mayor added. “Our village is so beautiful and there are so many great things happening here. The worst thing is getting an odor from the sewer treatment plant.” 

Complaints indicated that the wind from the north welcomes the smells onto High Street as well as Main Street. A resident, who described themselves as an avid walker, told the board that the smell was “amazingly powerful” and expressed her gratitude for the sewer system but quickly added, “There’s something wrong.”