Residents attend meeting about sewage smell, discuss possible solutions

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Frustrated residents attended a meeting Wednesday night to hear about the ongoing sewage smell in the South Bay and to discuss possible solutions.

The meeting was hosted by the Citizens for Coastal Conservancy, the group behind the "Stop the Stink" signs posted all over town.

The group listened to a presentation by Leon Benham, the president. He said the goal was to educate the community about the ongoing problem and presented, what he says, two solutions that would work to solve the problem.

Benham says one solution would be redirecting the river flow so water doesn't pond. During the meeting, he showed detailed diagrams of how that would work.

"Ponding water, especially with traces of sewage, is a disaster because it smells, it stinks, there’s just no way around that," says Benham.

Benham says a second solution is to have a capture system that collects the sewage.

"Also is to have a capture system that captures all dry weather flows; dry weather flows, by definition, are sewage," says Benham.

Families who attended the meeting said they felt it was productive and left more informed.

However, they're hoping leaders at all levels of government do something soon to stop the problem.

"I just wish that more people would get involved in this situation so we can resolve this issue," said Everett Sena, a 40-year resident of Nestor.