Suffolk's latest mystery: Source of the stink?

SUFFOLK

Jerry Butler likes to call it the big stink.

It sneaks into his street, creeps into his car, clings to his clothing.

"It smells like concentrated, rotten garbage," Butler said. "It's getting more regular, and it's getting stronger."

After living in relative comfort in his neighborhood off Wilroy Road for about 10 years, Butler said, the smell, which has been hanging around for several months, has finally gotten to the point of breaking him. He says he's close to putting a "for sale" sign in front of his house.

Councilman Leroy Bennett said he's been hearing that same story more often lately. Butler spoke at Wednesday's City Council meeting, and Bennett listened.

"We're going to have a community meeting," he said. "We're going to get to the bottom of this."

Bennett has been a victim himself of the big stink.

"My wife has been sick from it," he said.

Whatever it is, the stink started around November, and he agrees that it's gotten stronger and more frequent. His prime suspect is the Southeastern Public Service Authority's landfill, a short distance away off the U.S. 58 bypass. But SPSA says it's not their stink.

"We've had our staff go into the neighborhood several times," said Rowland "Bucky" Taylor, SPSA manager. He says the state Department of Environmental Quality has visited three times.

"We're not the only landfill in the area, you know. There's swamp out there. We're continuing to monitor it," Taylor said.

John C. Holland Jr., who owns Suffolk's other landfill in the area, said he might have known fingers would point in his direction. But he swears it's not his landfill.

"I take demolition debris, industrial waste and wood," he said. "Nobody's said anything to me about any odor."

Bennett said he's going to find that stink.

He's planning the community meeting now. He wants S PSA there, the DEQ and the city's public works department.

"I've had quite a few calls, quite a few e-mails," he said. "S PSA said they're doing everything right. We're really going to have a problem when the summer gets here."

Linda McNatt, (757) 222-5561, linda.mcnatt@pilotonline.com