Lake County will split the cost of a second odor study with the City of Mount Dora, following an initial odor study the city paid for that stopped short of identifying the likely source of an offensive chemical odor persisting in the area.
Once the cost of the second study is split in half, the county and city will each be on the hook for roughly $135,000. Collectively, the total cost of both studies combined comes to nearly $520,000, not including another roughly $544,000 the city spent recently on wastewater system improvements and odor loggers used to track concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in the air.
So far, the first odor study points away from the city’s wastewater treatment plant as a likely cause of the smell, although some samples are still being analyzed. That initial Kimley-Horn study was focused on addressing a consent order executed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in response to nine violations the agency discovered at the facility: including failure “to operate the Facility in a manner to control objectionable odors.”
But the Kimley-Horn study was focused specifically on the wastewater facility and system. It wasn’t ever intended to “do an expansive search around the city of Mount Dora to find the odor,” according to an attorney for the city.
RELATED: What’s that smell? Study suggests Mount Dora wastewater plant not to blame
Now, a different team of consultants from V&A Engineering, through Halff Associates, Inc., will conduct a new study to identify the odor’s source, per a consent agenda item approved Tuesday by Lake County Commissioners.
Meanwhile, residents say the offensive smells they’ve been detecting and complaining about for years are only getting worse. There are two different smells of concern: sewage and the smell of hydrogen sulfide, a gas that quickly becomes lethal starting at concentrations of 1,000 parts per million.
Concentrations of hydrogen sulfide reached those levels of 1,000 ppm or higher at the wastewater facility on two separate days last fall, as well as on seven days outside of the facility, according to the Kimley-Horn study’s final quarterly report. All nine days were in October or November of last year.
Despite her concern over potential health impacts from the hydrogen sulfide, and frustration over the length of time it’s taking to find a solution, Lake County resident Cheri Pivowar said she’s hopeful about the new multi-jurisdictional approach to funding a second odor study focused on identifying a source.
“I feel positive,” Pivowar said. “I think we’re on the right path … We’re still in a tracing mode.”
Along with some other residents, Pivowar is still not fully convinced the wastewater treatment plant is not to blame, at least in part, for the smell of hydrogen sulfide.
At a recent city council meeting, Pivowar said, she shared information about a 2023 case study showing how drop structures within a wastewater system can exacerbate emissions of hydrogen sulfide. Drop structures are often used in sewer systems to transport waste from higher to lower elevations.
In the case study, which took place in Iraq, hydrogen sulfide emissions jumped about 28% when the drop structure’s height rose from just under a foot (0.2 meters) to a little more than five feet (1.6 m). Pivowar said she thinks those findings could be relevant to Mount Dora’s situation, in part because the wastewater plant of concern, on James P. Snell Drive, sits atop a hill.
“You don't build wastewater plants up in the air. You build them in valleys. And this is a perfect example why,” Pivowar said.
Hydrogen sulfide is heavy, which can make it deadly in low-lying and confined spaces, like mines and sewers.
For now, Pivowar, a retired computer programmer, is focused on searching for solutions, as well as rallying other residents together to learn more about the cause and what they can do to help.
Of the second study, she remains hopeful: “I really hope this is gonna do it,” Pivowar said.
