Neighbors, utility battle stinky street

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - West Side Albuquerque's wastewater has to go somewhere.

With the ever increasing population in the area, the sewer systems are having a hard time keeping up, and that's causing a stink in one area in particular.
 
At Yucca Drive NW near Central Avenue, passersby and homeowners have noticed the stench. It's lingered for decades.

"The smell seems to get worse with heat," said Julian Torrez, owner of the Chili Fix rerstaurant near the intersection.  "So the hot months, June and July, it's not real appetizing."

Torrez learned the hard way that his old property was butting up against the city's stinky sewer lines running underground. So he moved across the street hoping that would help, but the smell is still noticeable.

There are three restaurants now sitting right on top of the sewer lines.

"Sometimes it will actually get inside the store," Torrez said.

City Councilor Ken Sanchez, who chairs the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, said the smell has been a problem for almost 50 years. He said he has heard less complaining since a filtration system was installed in 2007 and upgraded in 2011.

"The only way we are going to totally resolve this problem is to build new lines, and the cost of doing that is going to exceed $30 million," Sanchez continued. The water authority doesn't have that money available, he added.

The biofilter costs about $1 million to install and upgrade and $1 million a year to run.

Torrez and others would like to see more action to get the stench cleared.

"I've never seen them tear up the street, put in new lines, in the 20 years I've owned property at this intersection," Torrez said.

Before the biofilter was put in, Torrez said his employees were getting sick regularly from the smell.