Anne Arundel residents and business owners frustrated by the persistent and bothersome odor emanating from a county wastewater treatment facility on Edgewater Road sought answers and action last Monday during a contentious meeting held by the county Department of Public Works.

At the Eastport-Annapolis Neck library, public works representatives addressed testing and a possible remedy to what residents say is a worsening smell coming from the 87-year-old facility.

The meeting grew testy when the public was invited to ask questions. Residents clamored to be called on and some interrupted speakers to object to the answers. The meeting room was packed with about 75 attendees, and repeated concerns were raised by the attendees, ranging from the odor’s impact on their property values to health concerns, including itchy eyes and trouble breathing.

Residents say the odor has been frustrating them for decades but in recent months has reached an unprecedented level.

Steve Patten has lived in the neighborhood for 24 years and says the odor has become unavoidable.

“I used to just notice it around Federal Road, but now it’s encroaching on the whole community,” Patten said.

Public works department representatives outlined their plan to monitor the odor and eventually, in the fall, hire a third-party contractor to design odor control improvements. Monitors already have been positioned around the plant to collect data on the levels of hydrogen sulfide, the primary byproduct of the water treatment processes.

Chris Biggerstaff, a senior engineer, presented the initial odor control monitoring findings at the meeting and answered questions.

“This is a wastewater treatment plant. There is no eliminating the odor completely, unfortunately,” Biggerstaff said at the meeting.

The results from the initial monitoring phase identified potential sources of the odor and indicated that new odor control technology is needed. The odor, however, is expected to get worse before it gets better, officials said.

The public works department will continue monitoring throughout the summer, when warmer temperatures likely will exacerbate the odor, but there will not be recommendations from the monitoring until September.

The requested $3,602,300 needed to complete the project and hire a third-party contractor is expected to be included in the proposed fiscal 2025 budget the County Council will vote on this Friday, according to council member Lisa Rodvien, a Democrat who represents the affected area.

“I don’t know why we need more monitoring,” said Patten, calling for recommendations sooner than this fall. “There are a lot of people concerned about their property values, and we pay a lot of taxes in this community.”

Paul Bollinger is president of a small business that offers therapeutic sailing for people with disabilities that is located less than a mile from the wastewater treatment plant.

“It’s scary,” said Bollinger, of Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating. “We’re operating at a very high level of safety to accommodate our guests, and if the air is not safe, that will have a negative impact on our ability to serve.”

Sharon Hockenberry, who has lived in the neighborhood for 29 years, said she reached her breaking point from the smell and founded the Clean Air Action Group of Anne Arundel County through Facebook. The community group organized to track the odor levels with an independent app called Smell My City that allows residents to report the odor in a central database. Because of the outpouring of community interest, Hockenberry has faith that something will be done to address the odor.

“I’m happy that people spoke up,” she said. “There is passion and energy and people with different skill sets and experiences helping this cause. It’s going to get resolved.”