STERLING HEIGHTS (WXYZ) — For years, residents of a Sterling Heights neighborhood say stepping outside their homes often meant being greeted by the unmistakable smell of sewage.
Now, neighbors say a new $5.3 million Macomb County facility has finally cleared the air.
“I’ve lived here around 12 years,” said Ann Stevens, who lives on Hartwell Drive, just south of 17 Mile Road. During much of that time, Stevens said the neighborhood smelled like sewage “pretty much” every day.
“Poop, like sewage,” Stevens said, describing the odor.
Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller said the problem dates back even further.
Get a Look at the Facility in the Video Player Below
“The whole area has been complaining for decades about sewer odor,” Miller said.
County officials recently cut the ribbon on a new two-story facility near the corner of Sorrento Boulevard and Dodge Park Road designed to address the problem.
Inside the building, equipment pulls sewer gas from the system and treats it before releasing the cleaned air outside.
“You are literally hearing a fan that’s sucking up sewer gas,” Miller said while explaining the system.
“We suck up the H2S, then we run it through a carbon fiber that’s in these vessels here, then we polish the air, then we emit it out into the environment, which has no odors,” Miller said.
Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, is associated with the characteristic rotten-egg odor commonly linked to sewer gas.
For residents who have dealt with the smell for years, the difference has been noticeable.
Carolyn Harrington said the odor was once so bad she believes it drove some people from nearby homes.
“I can tell you the homes on Sorrento, next to that thing, those people never stayed longer than three years,” Harrington said.
But since the equipment began operating this spring, Harrington said the problem has disappeared.
“No odor at all. It’s been good,” she said.
Stevens has noticed the change, too.
“It helped a lot,” she said.
Construction on the $5.3 million facility began in March 2025. Miller said the county designed the building to resemble a home so it would fit into the surrounding residential neighborhood.
“We wanted to blend into the neighborhood, and we did not get one complaint during construction, which is amazing, believe me,” Miller said.
Beyond addressing the odor, Miller said the project is also intended to protect the county’s sewer infrastructure.
“This will expand the length of the life expectancy of our underground infrastructure, and then we’ve also solved the problem of the sewer odors in the neighborhood,” Miller said.
For residents who have spent years living with the smell, the change means something much simpler: They can step outside without smelling sewage.
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