A Grove of Pleasant Odors

I work most days in Pleasant Grove. One thing that you may know about PG is that it smells like s***.

In the morning, I try to get there before it gets bad, but at lunch, I'll come out of the building and be greeted by a wall of mouthwatering stench. During the summer months, the air conditioning vent above me will conveniently blow this effluent stench on me directly. Sometimes people will have to go home sick because of the smell.

The smell comes from the Timpanogos Special Service District, which processes sewage here on the west side of 1-15. About twice a year, there will be a story in the news about a protest or a "Special Investigation" into the cause of the stink. ABC 4 Utah did a laughably poor
piece about it last night. It was exactly the same as every other news story about it, which is essentially these 2 points:

1) People have been complaining for years about PG's humanure stench.
2) The people in charge say they're doing something about it.

Useful information not appearing in the story:
1) The reason why nothing is ever done about it.
2) How other cities deal with this problem.
3) Where the owners/operators of the TSSD live.

When HP first decided to move into this new office building, they were reassured by the city that the smell problem was being fixed, and by the time the building was finished, the poo-churners would only be allowed to churn at night. This turned out to be completely untrue. Now the magic solution they've come up with is a 5 million-dollar tarp system.

You read that correctly. The PG legislature has approved a 5 million dollar project that does not take into account this simple fact illustrated here.


If Jurassic Park and my own experience with farting has taught me anything, it's that Nature and Smell find a way.