Bureau of Maintenance Superintendent Raymond Tourt today confirmed what many Batavia residents have been complaining about on social media for several days: foul ordors.
The odors were emanating from the ponds at the Waste Water Treatment plant and were more prevalent on Sunday and Monday, Tourt said in an email.
Maintenance work at the plant has played a role but so has weather, Tourt said.
"Even with adding a supplemental air compressors the odor seemed to hang low and drift further than the norm but this does happen on occasion even if we were not replacing the air lines," Tourt said. "These were hot and humid days and we think that the weather played a part in the ponds being noticed further from the WWTP.
"It is unfortunate, but we have incurred delays of materials. For this reason the contractor advanced the project as far as they could until the supply chain could catch up. Manufacturers and distributors are struggling to make their commitments and this is one of the projects that was impacted due to the supply line being disrupted.
"All materials appear be at the site or have confirmed delivery to be delivered this week. Work will resume on Monday and optimistically will be completed through the months of August and September. This project remains a priority and we would like to see it completed as soon as possible."
