A horrible smell is preventing Villagers from enjoying their nearby swimming pool.
Even more concerning, the Village of Fenney residents are worried about the potential health risks of a Hydrogen Sulfide leak from the lift station near the Blue Heron Pool & Postal Station.
“It smells like sewage and rotten eggs,” said homeowner Nancy Young. “It’s the most vile smell you’ve ever smelled.”
She said there have been problems with the lift station for five years. Because Young has been at the forefront of trying to resolve the problems, her neighbors look to her to reach out to The Villages for relief.
Young said many residents living around the Blue Heron pool are immune compromised.
“These people and any Villager cannot be subjected to this gas,” she said.
About midweek, there had been reports of a sound like an “explosion” coming from the lift station, which transports wastewater from a lower to a higher area. Lift stations are affordable alternatives that reduce the capital construction costs of the traditional gravity flow sewer systems.
Over the weekend, she received assurances from Jacobs that a replacement has been ordered for a defective part in the lift station’s odor control system. It should arrive on Monday. Jacobs is the The Villages District Government’s longtime contractor overseeing utilities.
Until then, no one is swimming in the Blue Heron pool and when Young’s husband makes the daily run to the postal station, he wears a mask.
Young has been battling brain cancer, which is now stable, and is not setting foot outside.