Stinky smell taunts residents in Richmond neighborhood

RICHMOND, TX (KTRK) -- It stinks and they don't know why.

Neighbors are hoping someone does something soon to stop the stench that at times lately has been overpowering in the Fort Bend County subdivision of Aliana. That's located near FM 1464 and West Belfort.

"The smell was really horrible. I just walked outside my door and it just hit me," said resident Karim Rupani.

Rupani tells Eyewitness News the stench was strong enough for him to want to cover his nose and run to his car as he made the short trip the other morning from his front door.

"I thought something died around my house and i was going to have to see what's going on you know," said Rupani.

Residents say the smell started a few months ago, mostly in the morning and at night.

"It's like rotten eggs," said resident Azeem Mohammad.

Some days there's nothing, other days they say you can't get away from it.

County leaders say possible culprits include a landfill or a wastewater treatment facility; both are within a mile of the neighborhood.

"We're narrowing it down," said Fort Bend County Commissioner James Patterson.

Patterson says his office has received complaints for the last month and a half.

The Sprint landfill is less than a mile from the neighborhood. It's nearly 400 acres and takes only rubble from construction sites, not household waste. They've been in operation for 32 years, according to co-founder Joe Swinbank. Aliana was just built in the last few years. Swinbank says this problem has never occurred before.

"We're doing everything we can to help the community find out what the issue is," said Swinbank.

There is also a wastewater treatment facility adjacent to the landfill. It is operated by Municipal Utilities District # 25. General Manager Steve Kim says ".. the District, as a member of the community, is committed ot identifying and assisting in the resolution of the odor problem."

TCEQ has twice been to both the wastewater treatment facility and the landfill in recent weeks. On neither occasion were investigators able to determine a source for the smell.

Both facilities are running ongoing tests in the hope of identifying the issue.

Swinbank says they are bringing in a methane "sniffing" drone to fly in the area soon as well.