County cleans sewers after weeks of reported foul smells in Park Avenue area

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For weeks now, something hasn’t smelled right in the Park Avenue neighborhood. And we mean that literally.

News10NBC was contacted by a neighbor several weeks ago. Ellen Sargeant says there are noxious smells around the area. We had her record short videos when she was walking the streets and noticed the bad smell. She sent us nine in two weeks.

We alerted Monroe County and shared one of the videos last Thursday. Less than 12 hours later, there was a county truck with a vacuum hose down into the sewer. Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean met Sargeant Monday morning at that corner in the neighborhood.

“It smells rotten, like a sewer. And gases. It smells gases coming up from the sewer,” Sargeant said.

Brean asked Sargeant what she thought when she saw the truck cleaning up the sewer.

“Actions speak louder than words,” she said.

Last week, the county told News10NBC it had not received any official complaints. A spokesperson said if there are stretches with no rain, the sewers can emit an odor.

If you smell something suspicious from the sewers, you can call the county Pure Waters Department.

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