Some New Albany residents say the city smells like rotten eggs. Leaders explain why

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) -- New Albany stinks, literally. At least according to some of the people who live there.

City leaders said the answer to why the smell is happening is the wind.

Every time it blows from one direction, Hoosiers raise a stink about the stench of rotten eggs and offensive odors.

Mike Wallace, with New Albany's Wastewater Department, said he's immune to most smells at this point, but his team has investigated the complaints coming from Charlestown Road and Silver Hills.

They've checked the sewer plant, low lying areas and said everything is fine. The most logical conclusion, he said, is that it's coming from Louisville.

"Any time we've had these calls, the wind is typically coming from the southeast, always from the south. We've never had an instance where that wasn't happening, unless it's just something isolated," Wallace said. "You know, I don't want to pinpoint blame on anybody, but I can say that it's not our system."

Many New Albany residents didn't notice the smell until last summer, when people were complaining about it in Louisville, too.

Earlier this month, Louisville MSD said a lack of rain was trapping sewer gas in pipes and catch basins. It was the worst downtown, in the Highlands and west Louisville, which are areas with older infrastructure.

There's not really any remedy for the issue in New Albany, leader said, aside from hoping for the wind to blow in a different direction.