DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Homeowners in a DeKalb County subdivision said the foul odor from a nearby landfill has them running from the front door to their cars hoping to not have to come up for air.
“It is this really, really, really, bad atrocious smell. And nobody cares!“ said Rev. Sheryl Prince.
Prince says she had no idea there was a landfill and would have never purchased property here if she did.
“You didn’t even know it was here, so now, out of nowhere, we started smelling smells and it got worse," she said.
Gloria Walcott said the size of the landfill has significantly changed over the years.
“They just got progressively larger and we started to get the smell more and more," Walcott said.
Walcott said it’s very frustrating.
"Because I love my home," she said. "I’m too old to just pick up and go."
11Alive reached out to the Environmental Protection Agency and the DeKalb County commissioner for the area.
On Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the county sent a press release about the plan to mitigate the smell. They said the garbage cell, or dumping hole, causing the odor is 250 feet away from the closest home. They plan to close it and plant grass over it.
But the release also states a new cell will be created 500 feet away. Each night after dumping, compost will be poured to minimize the smell.
As for the chemical smell some residents report, county leaders say a new gas collection and control system is being installed and it's about 80% complete.