My office is in the area, and I get headaches from the smell--it can't be healthful. Why is such a terrible odor allowed?

There is a sewer plant right there. If you stop going to the bathroom, then the odor will go away.

It never fails... the people who complain are the newbies, this sewer plant has been there for at least 40 years... I expect that it was there before they moved to the area... should have checked it out before moving in....

It's not the sewer plant, it's the place where they clean the port a potties right off of 202. that should be in an industrial park not right as you enter West Chester! Its nasty!

It's not the port-a-pots at A Anchor there is nothing in them when they are stored there it is the sewage plant that smells. Sorry but S**t stinks

I'm not a "newbie". I've lived here for 40 years but it didn't always smell that bad. It's gotten worse and never goes away. It didn't used to smell all the time.

I agree, we have recently noticed that it has gotten
worse!! Something is different.

whatever it is it's not a nice welcoming smell as you enter into West Chester and it is NASTY!
Do you mean the sweage plant on concord Rd?

It's probably that the County just keeps allowing new homes to be built with no regard for whether the roads, sewage treatment plants, etc. can handle the additional loads. As long as they get those tax dollars......

I've been driving by this area twice a day for years. This awful smell has only been obvious since mid-winter this year and still continues. It smells like sewage to me.

It's the business! How can they fix the fact that a portable toilet facility is right next to the road? You want to pay for them to move? Just deal with it...

Some days the smell is worse than others. I have lived in the area my entier life and it seems to have gotten worse. Some days when at the light at 202 and Matlack I have to keep my nose covered. It is coming from the sewage plant and unfortunately I don't know if there is anything that they could do to try and do what they do without the awful smell.

Perhaps the fine residents of West Chester and West Goshen should eat more peppermint candy......

The smell changes with the weather it seems. I've worked right by the facility for 5 years and when it smells at all, it is unbearable and cannot be healthy. At the light at Matlack I usually spray air freshener so I can breathe while waiting for the light to change. It then wafts into the building I work into for hours. It is a big problem for the area and I cannot believe it has not been addressed.

I don't think eating more peppermint candy will help JIM, maybe you should keep your mouth shut- the horrible smell we are talking about could be your breath.

It never used to be this bad. In all of the years it has been there, this is the first time I have EVER noticed the stentch. Something must be done.

SHUT-IT, Now that wasn't helpful.

Would anyone consider appearing on the local news channel in order to get them to investigate the cause of this smell and for them to try to get something done to resolve this on-going issue?

I think that's a great idea. I only commute through the offending area or I would volunteer. I think a local should do it.

Just a thought...before going to the news, did anyone consider going to the township/borough/county for an explanation?

The sewage treatment plant is at or over capacity, thanks to rampant over-development. The facility was not designed to handle the volume of crap being put out by West Chester and its environs. Either upgrade the facility (and deeal with the raised taxes that will take), or quit poopin'.

i have driven by the water treatment plant on the same day that the smell is horrendous on 202 and it is not coming from the water treatment plant. I happen to live near both of them and it is the place with the portable pottys.

This area has always smelled like that for as long as i can remember and it gets worse day by day.

I remember back in 1981 when I was going out with my husband to be that the Goose Creek sewer treatment plant was always full of bad odors! He parked a sludge truck there, and it is just awful. It sure doesn't stop the knuckleheads from flying through that area though, perhaps to escape the odor!

In 1993 we looked at homes on Concord Rd. and the smell there was as bad then as it is now.

this is your local sewage treatment plant in west chester/west goshen, if you want the smell to go away stop drinking and eating and don't flush anything down your toilets at all! this should correct
the problem eventually.

I have lived here many years, it has never been as bad as it is now. Is it increased load or something else?

I work in West Chester & have smelled that wretched odor for 4+ years. I agree that the stench is worse at times, then other times there is no odor!
I do believe it's from the port-a-potty's. PLEASE, find out where the smell is coming from & try to fix the problem.

I agree. It's the West Chester Waste Water Dept. I've been driving past it for the last 20 years from Wilmington to Malvern and back. It's only gotten noticeably bad, however, in the last year. Please investigate, as something's not right. I feel really bad for anyone near this mess. I used to be able to
stop and hit a bucket of golf balls at the adjacent driving range or stop in at Kelly's Sports. I can't imagine getting out of my car now. I'd barf all over the place. :) Nice job, West Chester...

Its really gonna smell after everyone has their fourth celabration drinking beer and eating hotdogs and soda for three days yes sh.. Stinks

So we're up to 92 comments and I've seen and heard nothing about anyone trying to find a solution. What's it going to take?

Several new watchers from the governments of West Goshen and West Chester have been added to this issue. Hopefully we will see a response from someone shortly!

Best,

Zak
Community Manager
SeeClickFix

I did a class project on sewage treatment plants which included a tour. (Not the one in question.) I had a view of open pits containing raw sewage and I was amazed how little the entire facility smelled. I think they evaporated the moisture and put the solids into a truck all inside a small building. Usually you smell a strange odor driving by the treatment plants, agreed, but that smell is terrible driving past on Rt.202. It's as if the sewage is sitting out in the sun cooking. Maybe there is a small part of the treatment plant they can upgrade to change how the sewage is processed. And special thanks to the people who work at those treatment plants. Imagine if they all smelled that bad. And I question all those port-a-potties. That seems like a better place to start looking for the smell.

The solution is to not go to the bathroom. If it's the blue bowl cleaning place then the people complaining can pay for the place to be moved.

Honestly, I don't see why that solution isn't implemented...I mean really we can all just stop going to the bathroom for a few weeks, and it will be solved. I'm fine with that, get with the program people.

I am the one who posted this issue originally and never expected to gain this many responses. It seems that an issue that affects so many people should be looked into. I knew before I posted that both the sewer treatment plant and the portable toilet place were both in that area... my main question is where is this smell coming from? Most sewer treatment plants do not smell (as previous posters have said). So is it the portable toilet place? I would think that the smell probably is not coming form them- again because like the sewer plant they use processes / chemicals to cut down on smells. It is obvious that this is not a huge issue- however it does seem like quite an annoyance to many people - as we can see by all who have responded to this post.

i am curious where the port a potty people dump the contents of the port a potties? Possibly it is that process that smells so bad? Again I have purposely driven past the sewer treatment plant on days 202 is smelly to see if i could smell it at both and have been unable to smell it at both on the same day.
Clearly someone needs to check into this ..

All porta-potty companies must, by PA law, dump their contents at a local sewage treatment plant. I believe the Hickman company dumps their waste at the adjacent West Chester Borough sewage plant.

This is a waste. Would you rather they not provide the public service and go back to using an outhouse.

Reopen this issue! The smell needs to be dealt with!

If you did not start the issue or resolve the issue yourself, then you should not be closing it. The public wants this issue re-opened, therefore it has been.

Public service? Do you think it is free? I would guess anyone who is hooked up to the sewer is paying for the service. And they have a reason to be concerned that the entire area stinks while nearly all other sewage treatment plants are able to contain or control their smell better. With all the nasty comments and people who are concerned, I haven't seen any explanation for why it smells. Anyone have any facts?

There has been no official response to this issue and no proposal to fix the problem. Just a lot of sarcasm from other posters on this board but no one with a solution. Anyone know why that is? There is obviously something wrong and it is possibly a health issue too. I agree with the person who said that someone should go to the news media with this. Maybe then there would be some kind of progress.

There seems to still be a lot of discussion regarding this issue.

i think this problem should be fixed. may cost alot of money but it would be worth it

This smell does not just affect a stretch of highway with cars going 50 mph past it. This smell blows the other way too, and affects an entire industrial center. It gets in the offices, and may even go as far as to affect the West Chester University Commons up the road a little bit. This is a real annoyance that I feel should not even exist. There must be a way to control this. Can we get someone in here with some other, real facts about this issue?

This business shouldnt be so close to homes, businesses and a major highway! it really is a horrible smell and is your welcome to West Chester!
With all the zoning laws I am surprised it is allowed to be there.
You cant get away with much in WC,someone must know somebody to have it still be there with all the growth of businesses around it....

It's not the porta potty joint - it's either the West Chester sewer plant the sits next to the porta potty business or the West Goshen sewer plant over on S. Concord Rd. depending on the wind direction. It's a sewer plant - what do you expect?

I believe its west chester pumping station. People look at it this way if it wasnt there where would it be?? Ill tell you right in the center of the borough. if you want it fixed carried air freshiner with you, because ahte to tell you but the state, county, borough, nor township is going to do anything about it. Its been there for years and im almost willing to bet when they wanted to build it it was just a roadway threw there the house didnt exist and if they did the owners of said homes were notified of the incoming possibility.

What kills me is that they have started construction on 400 apt/condo units where Spaz Bev used tobe, wait until the people paying $1000/month in rent get a whiff on a warm, summers eve....sitting on their patios, drinking a cocktail....future renters and condo owners beware!!

It's that portable john farm. The smell is the chemical they use. The fact that nothing's been done makes one wonder who's getting paid off. Seems "ripe" for an investigative report.

smells like crap.....oh, forgot, it is crap! Can't wait to hear from soon to be occupied new, luxury apartment dwellers, renters etc., watch, they will move in then it will be an issue, then we all will have to kick in to have it fixed. SPAZ owners should not have been allowed to sell this parcel to a developer placing 400 aprts in this area.

Wow...yes, it smells...it's sewage! Maybe instead of ranting on this site, those people who are truly affected by it (and I'm not talking about the people who have to stop @ the light for a couple minutes...roll your windows up & get over it) should go to the waste water treatment plant & gain some knowledge of the process. I lived in Conshohocken for a few years. Their sewer plant is right along the Schuykill River Trail, and guess what? Their s*** stinks too.

Hey Get Over It, my crap doesn't stink!! LOL!! BUt agree with you, it is a sewage plant,an odor is a by-product of the sanitation process so yes, we should get over it and move on and complain about legitimate topics and this ain't one of them.

My issue is with all of the development that our so called expert politicians allow to happen, do they ever once think of it's impact on local infrstrucuture e..g roads, sewer et al. The answer.....NO!!!

i noticed around may 6th that is had a smell like burritos.

There are two sewer treatment plants in this area. One on Snyder Ave. just west of Rt. 202 and another on S. Concord Rd. a little further to the east of Rt. 202 and south of Westtown Rd. It's the nature of the beast - gotta treat municipal sewage somewhere.

The sewage treatment plant on South Concord Road is run By West Goshen Township for waste from sanitary waste in West Goshen Twp. The sewage plant along Rt. 202 is run by the Boro of West Chester for waste from the Boro. The plant was designed for heavy waste loads from the old - and now gone - Wyeth plant and especially the chemical and penicillin fermentation operations. Wyeth sold the fermentaion and some of the chemical operations to Fermenta AB of Sweden who later sold the operations to Burns Philp in Sydney, Australia. That was a mess of the first order! Now there is grass growing where many West Chester residents worked.

I can only imagine what an additional burden 800 apartment units that are being built on the old Spaz Beverage site and the 1000 people that will live there will put on that facility to handle thier waste. I have to believe that you can just wave a mgic wand and have unlimited capacity at these sewage facilities so I gotta believe it is going to get worse. Good luck to those future renters paying $1000/month in rent for their upscale but STINKY surroundings. Next thing you know is they will raise taxes or sewage rates for all of us to handle a necessary expansion of capacity. This uninhibited development of vacant land is just not right.

This area is not in The Borough of West Chester. You should be talking to West Goshen Township. We do not handle trash pickup there.

??? Robin, this is about sewage and the sewage plant, and not trash removal, are you saying that the crap (literally) that will come from the apartments will not go 200 ft away to be treated but will be pumped 2 to 3 miles away to be treated at the West Goshen plant??? Either way, my point is that it is a lot more inflow that will need to be processed and I assumed the adjacent sewage plant.

Spring has sprung and so has the turd smell- It has stunk to high heaven with all this warm weather recently. Hope those new residents as the luxury apartments invested in some Glade!!!

Hahaha, D, I have been thinking about those "luxury" apts. as well!
Wanna bet that the landlord didn't fill renters in on the surprise they will smell for the coming months?

Visited those "luxury" new apartments and the first thing you smell when you step out of your car is the smell... whew-- at first I thought I stepped in a pile of dogshit but realized it was just the odor. The lady at the apartments said it is not usually that bad, but I beg to differ... it was totally rank and disgusting... needless to say I won't be renting there...

Everyone whose "poop" goes to that facility better start eating those peppermints!

So - over 2 years and nothing done about this?? It really does smell bad still....

This area is now reeking of @#$% again!!! It has been a few years since I last noticed it- but this week noticed it back again and as rank as ever! Anyone else notice this?

If it walks like crap, tallks like crap abd smells like crap.... Must be crap.

Need to close the issue and move on to things that really are important. Like someone said earlier, you have an issue, buy some air freshener, problem solved!