File photo by Eric Ayres In recent months, a pungent stench has lingered in the area of the city sewage treatment plant as dewatering and sludge removal has been taking place.

WHEELING – Sludge removal at the Water Pollution Control Plant in Center Wheeling is nearing completion, and efforts to expedite the process have brought noticeable positive results.

In recent months, a pungent stench has lingered in the area of the city sewage treatment plant as dewatering and sludge removal has been taking place. As crews reached the bottom of the settling basins at the plant, the removal of the deep, most concentrated sludge stirred up unusually intense odors that could be smelled as far as parts of South Wheeling, the city’s downtown and even Wheeling Island at times.

But a focus on moving quickly to tackle the work at hand has paid dividends, and visitors to the area around the plant can literally smell the difference.

“Odor has diminished substantially,” Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said. “There has been some significant progress that’s being made. We authorized an around-the-clock removal of the last part of the sludge. It has made a significant difference. It is not completed yet, but it’s only a week or two away.”

The digesters at the plant have been full and in need of cleaning, which has resulted in a wafting of occasional foul odors around the facility in recent years. But Herron noted that the vast majority of intensified stench coming from the plant originated from the settling basis, which have also undergone cleaning, as well.

“Both primary settling basins have been cleaned of sludge,” he explained.” They were holding sludge as the digesters were off line.”

Herron said the plant’s primary digester has been emptied of sludge, and other improvements have been taking place on them, including valve and structural repairs. Most of those improvements have been substantially completed, and the equipment is back online and able to be used.

“It’s large enough to handle current flows,” Herron said of the plant’s primary digester. “The secondary digester is still having sludge removed, but is a week or two away from completion.”

Soon, all of the sludge removal will be complete, and ongoing improvements at the plants will continue to move forward.

“The digesters are covered and don’t produce a large amount of odors,” Herron said. “Those odors were coming from the primary clarifiers and settling basins. They are no longer holding sludge.”

Officials have noted that the sludge removal work has been a project that cost around $500,000. Repair of the digesters, valves and other components at the plant is under contract for around $1.4 million.

About $43.85 million worth of long-term improvements to the city’s Water Pollution Control system are planned and are being funded through the city’s 30-year bonds issued for utility system improvements. A significant part of the wastewater upgrades are targeted for improvements at the treatment plant.