A ONCE REMOTE WWTP RESPONDS TO NEW RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORS (AND A PGA GOLF COURSE) WITH A TIMELY, COST-EFFECTIVE ODOR TREATMENT PROGRAM

When the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB) built the West Bank Sewage Treatment Plant (WBSTP) in 1973 in a remote swampy portion of the city, it was never envisioned that odors would become a neighborhood issue. However, within 10 years of the plant's construction, an upperclass,gated community containing 200 homes and a world class golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus that hosts an annual PGA tour event, were carved out of adjacent reclaimed property. With the subdivision's construction, complaints of odors soon followed; and the S&WB's defense of “we were here first” fell on deaf ears. Clearly this was one conflict the S&WB was going to resolve only when the plant became odiferously invisible to its new neighbors.This paper will describe the study, findings and final implementation plan that successfully curtailed offsite odors. Cost-effective odor control was implemented quickly, in advance of an upcoming PGA tour golf tournament: and, although some of the occasional golf shots during the event could be described as “stinky”, the air could not.