Nova Scotia·NewThe Municipality of Kings County says it will start efforts on Monday to deal with the stink coming from the sewage treatment plant in New Minas.Kings County residents have complained about the smell since the springDanielle Edwards · CBC News · Posted: Sep 13, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoThis town smells terrible. Can it be fixed?Residents in New Minas and Kentville say they are fed up with the recurring pungent odours from the nearby sewage treatment plant. And they want the Municipality of the County of Kings to come up with a solution. The CBC’s Meig Campbell reports.The Municipality of the County of Kings says it will begin efforts on Monday to deal with the stink coming from the sewage treatment plant in New Minas, N.S.This comes after some residents in neighbouring Annapolis Valley communities said this spring that they were fed up with the “nauseating” smell coming from the facility.The smell tends to be worse in warmer weather, residents say.Earlier this month, the municipality announced the next phase of odour control measures at the plant, which includes “desludging.”Brad Carrigan, the director of engineering and public works with the municipality, said in an email that desludging regularly happens at lagoon-based wastewater facilities. It involves measuring the depth of the sludge and removing “biosolids” — solid organic matter that’s recovered from the sewage treatment process.At the facility, bacteria in the five treatment lagoons consume the biosolids. Air is added to incoming wastewater to create the conditions for bacteria to thrive.Previously, old aerators did not supply enough air into the lagoons, according to a regional sewer update from July. That led to the odour problem.The update also noted the 2025-26 regional sewer budget at just under $2.3 million.Time and budgetThe municipality said desludging is set to start on Lagoon 2 at the facility, and could be expanded to other lagoons, depending on time and budget.As well, the municipality has begun installing sampling devices in the lagoons that will reveal more about the materials coming into the plant and what’s needed to combat the odour.Municipal staff reported to the council that previous action to get more air into the lagoons at the facility did lead to a period of “odour-free operations” in August.ABOUT THE AUTHORDanielle Edwards is a reporter with CBC Nova Scotia. She has previously worked at The Canadian Press in Halifax and the Globe and Mail in Toronto covering a variety of topics. You can reach her at danielle.edwards@cbc.ca
‘Desludging’ to begin at New Minas sewer plant to address odour
