Sterling Heights business furious over nearby dumping site smell

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (FOX 2) – A large heap in Sterling Heights is causing quite a smell. That’s what one business is saying, and they want it to go away now.

FOX 2 looked into what it was and got some answers. We went over to the site and saw the heap. It’s large. Whatever odor was coming from it, we’re told it won’t be there for long.

For months, one business in Sterling Heights saw a smoking pile at the Priority Waste site off Mound Road. An employee, Billy, recorded it. He says it’s a mound or heap of waste. And the smell can be intense.

“The smell is horrific, and it’s pretty much every day,” Billy said. “It’s like your yard waste bin filled with grass sitting there for weeks on end on a hot day, or, hot months, and you’re sticking your face in it.”

He says it’s over the summer that he and his coworkers first noticed it.

“You can’t smell it inside the business, but as soon as the doors open that’s when all the smell comes in, walking to your vehicles,” Billy said.

He says it’s worse over the summer. That’s when they began keeping track of it.

“We kept logs of every time it smelled, turned them into the city and I haven’t seen anything done about it,” he said. 

FOX 2 reached out to the city of Sterling Heights and are waiting to hear back. Matt Allen of Priority Waste said over the phone, “There’s no illegal dumping going on.”

It’s compost season and it ends this Friday. He says, “This is a part of our Sterling Heights maintenance and yard facilities. The composting that is staged there is cleared away every day.”

He added that there’s a misting system that sprays a fragrance. It’s mainly used in the summer.

As for Billy, he hopes something is done soon, so the smell goes away. Again, Priority Waste says compost season ends on Friday. Priority Waste also says EGLE was on site Wednesday surveying the odor and was found “compliant.”

There was no odor.