Midway residents say stink from sewage ponds is making them sick, prompting state health study

MIDWAY — Midway residents bordering the Heber Valley wastewater lagoons — over 40 acres of ponds filled with treated sewage — say they’re holding their breath, anticipating the nefarious smells emitted from the area annually in springtime, after an especially odorous year left nearby residents worried.

“When I bought a lot, I knew I would have some smell (from the sewage pond). But I love the view … (and) the quiet. I love the community. I thought that if I had to smell this for a couple days every year I could deal with that,” Cami Bingham, a resident in the affected neighborhoods since 2014, said.

But she says the odor from the sewage ponds has progressively worsened over the years. And it has become present much more frequently.

It’s not just the smell, residents insisted, affecting those near the Heber Valley Special Service District’s lagoons.

Midway residents commission survey on sewage ponds

The neighborhoods completed a survey of the health effects they believe can be attributed to their proximity to the water. “Three members of my family came down with flu-like symptoms as soon as we started smelling the sewage,” one respondent said.

Another claimed they had two instances of rare bacterial infections. Many said their mental health, quality of life, and ability to sleep has been significantly impacted.

An ear, nose and throat doctor who worked in the area, Brian Tagge, wrote a letter to the Heber Valley Special Service District saying that the aerosols from the sewage “pose a problem for inhabitants in the surrounding areas, causing these illnesses that I see in my office,” including sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, bronchitis and pneumonitis.

The residents sent their survey of health concerns and other letters of concern to the county health department and the special service district …

There’s much more to the story at KSL.com.