OT Stink Street San Jose
- From: "earthage2002@xxxxxxxxx" <earthage2002@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 29 Sep 2005 17:15:38 -0700
Posted on Thu, Sep. 29, 2005
100-year-old sewage blamed for awful smell
By Gary Richards
San Jose Mercury News
The location: Zanker and Trimble, North San Jose.
The problem: An awful odor.
``Like ammonia and rotten eggs,'' said Michael O'Connell, an engineer
with the city's Public Works Department.
``Like raw sewage,'' said motorist Shiva Shenoy of San Jose.
``It has got to be the most smelly street in San Jose,'' said Nikki
Warner of San Jose, who works nearby.
Noses don't lie.
But soon, drivers waiting at nearby red lights can again open their
windows and residents can take the family dog out for a stroll or dare
to open patio doors.
Without gagging.
Work is entering the final stench -- er, stretch -- on a sewer project
that has been going on for 20 years. Although several more years of
digging remain, the most critical pipes are in place and the foulest
odor this side of the Highway 237 landfill is being eliminated.
The main pipe was installed in the late 1890s, before Teddy Roosevelt
was president. For more than 100 years, a hand-made brick pipe
collected sewage that could not be easily removed and created a stink
linking the Roosevelt era with Silicon Valley.
The city has installed reinforced concrete pipes, putting four in a
place where three are needed to make things flow. The extra pipe allows
workers to turn off the flow to one pipe and clear out the smelly
stuff, work that will take place annually every summer.
``We can perform routine work on those sewers,'' O'Connell said. ``We
never had the ability to take one off line before and clean it.''
Filters have also been installed, which clear the air out of the
sewers, dispersing the odor.
The stench has fueled urban legends. Some insist the odor comes from a
World War II slaughterhouse that once stood at this site. Not so, says
O'Connell. It's that old, smelly brick pipe.
``Sometimes, it's just overwhelming,'' said Warner, 39, an accountant
at SEMI, who will close the outside vents on her Mazda to avoid getting
a nasty whiff when driving to work. ``Sometimes you go outside and,
ugh.''
Up next in other problem areas: Work along Old Bayshore near Highway
101 to Fourth Street through Japantown. When done, more than 26 miles
of new sewer pipe will be in place.
So what if will take another few years? Take a deep breath.
At Zanker and Trimble, at least, the gag is up.
.
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