Let’s talk about stink: Utility hosts forum on Louisville’s odor problem

The city’s sewer system isn’t the only contributor to the local stench problem. But it’s one of them.

And this month officials with the Louisville Metropolitan Sewer District are hosting two meetings to update residents on efforts to tame the stench.

The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting and LPM News have covered the city’s frustrating fetor for years. Last year, resident complaints to the city’s Air Pollution Control District hit a six-year high. The complaints described smells like acetone, rotten eggs, burnt hair and dead bodies.

In 2023, more than half of the complaints submitted to the APCD came from the neighborhoods in and around the city's predominately Black West End.

The gross smells people experience come from multiple sources, with the sewer system managed by MSD