Residents asking: Can't you smell that smell?
BY TOYNETT HALL
Staff Writer

HOWELL - Residents of Howell's Freewood Acres section off Route 9 near Interstate 195 appear to be caught up in a web of bureaucracy in their ongoing attempt to get rid of something that stinks in their neighborhood.

What stinks, according to the residents, is a smell that has lingered for more than three years and is described as a mixture of methane gas and rotten eggs. Residents claim the smell is coming from a pipeline that is owned by the Manasquan River Regional Sewerage Authority (MRRSA).

The MRRSA is a utilities authority that owns pipes that transport sewage to treatment facilities outside of Howell.

According to Lisa and Reggie Davis, who have lived in Howell for 19 years, the problem with the stench began after the MRRSA realigned a sewer. They say the smell is ruining their quality of life and could make it tough for them to sell their home.

"There are days when we can not even open our windows or sit out in our yard," Lisa Davis said, adding that she is always "wondering if the smell is going to come through when we're entertaining guests."

Reggie Davis said, "We have to burn incense on our deck in order to stay and enjoy ourselves. We are getting ready to retire and to leave New Jersey, but we cannot sell our home with this smell."

Elisabeth and Kenneth Harper, who have been residents for 15 years, have the same complaint. They said they took their grievance to the Howell health department, to the Monmouth County Board of Health and to the MRRSA. They said officials have played the blame game.

"We first called the Howell health department. They came out immediately and said there was nothing they could do. They said it was an MRRSA problem. We had the MRRSA come out and they said it was a Howell problem. We had them both come out together and they stopped pointing fingers," Kenneth Harper said. "They told us the pipe was undersized and that is where the problem was coming from."

MRRSA Executive Director Jerome A. Cevetello Jr. said the authority owns the sewer that is producing the odor.

"This issue has been investigated on a number of occasions. We discovered that the septics are creating the smell," he said, adding that is due to "the lots in that area being undersized."

"The odor is emanating from the septic area. We have been working with the township for the last five years to develop a sewer. It is Howell's responsibility to sewer individual lots. We make connection points with interceptor lines to carry all the sewers throughout the town. This is a local issue for the town," Cevetello said.

Township Engineer William Nunziato said, "There are 53 connections within Freewood Acres to this deep line. And that is an MRRSA line, it's not a township line. We're not allowed to open the manholes and look in it. It's their maintenance, their ownership, their lines."

Mayor Joseph DiBella shared the same sentiment, saying, "It is not a Howell pipe. MRRSA owns that sewer. The problem is because their sewer line is over-capacity and is giving off a horrendous stench. We do not have jurisdiction to intervene."

Monmouth County spokesman William Heine said the county has received 12 complaints on this matter. He said the county has investigated every complaint and conducted its own odor inspections. He said officials discovered that at times there is an odor, but it is untraceable.

"From the health department's viewpoint this is an engineering issue, not a public health or enforcement problem on our end," Heine said.

DiBella said he "will not let the people of Freewood Acres get stuck in the middle of this bureaucratic process." He said Howell "will push hard to make sure the MRRSA does their job."

The issue may be addressed at the Township Council's Aug. 14 meeting, Deputy Manager Helene Schlegel said.