A quaint Maryland suburb is being plagued by a rotten stench so overpowering residents say they are unable to leave their homes.
Dundalk residents gathered at an explosive town hall meeting on Thursday night where they passionately voiced their anger about the strong sewage odor coming from a Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The situation had become so concerning that locals also said they were unable to eat the region’s famous crabs as they are fished from the putrid-smelling water.
‘The stench is so bad. Imagine the worst possible backup you’ve had in your bathroom, that’s what it smells like in our neighborhoods,’ local man John Zaganas told WBALTV 11.
‘It was in my throat so bad the other day that we could not even sit outside,’ another exasperated resident said during the meeting, which descended into a shouting match in parts.
The smell has been blamed on various operational failures at the treatment plant stretching back to May, according to a Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) inspection report.
This included excess sludge stored in large lagoon tanks that have not been processed properly and high pollutant discharge levels that may be adding to the stench.
‘They just don’t care about us. It’s been going on for years now, and it hasn’t been every day, but it’s enough to where it’s scary down here now. I don’t know what we’re breathing in, and I don’t know what we’re gonna get from it,’ Zaganas said.