AMERICAN FORK — There are only so many ways to refer to the smell of human waste without being crude, but prominent business owners and city leaders who gathered at the Timpanogos Special Service District Thursday said it was "nauseating," "horrible," "unpleasant," and agreed — "it stinks."

Melanie Marsh, chief of staff for American Fork; Bruce Carpenter, a Lindon City councilman; and Mike Daniels, mayor of Pleasant Grove, joined with approximately 15 property owners and business leaders to ask the service district what will be done about the lingering smell that wafts across the three cities from the district's sewer plant.

"What this group is looking for is not guarded statements, but some assurance that (the district) is going to deal with the issue," Daniels said. "It stinks. It needs to be cleaned up. It is preventing business from moving forward."

Though the sewage plant has been located close to I-15, just off exit 275 since 1976, the plant has not received any complaints about odor until the last three months.

Recently, a number of business owners in the area, including owners of a BMW auto dealership currently under construction near the freeway, expressed concerns about the negative impact the odors are having on their millions of dollars-worth of investments.

One suspected source of the smell is the plant's composting program, which mixes 100 percent of the solid waste received by the plant with green waste. But board members said the bigger problem might actually be the influx of people who are served by the district.

Approximately 13 million gallons of waste each day are filtered through the plant, which receives waste from Pleasant Grove, Lehi, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Alpine, Highland, Saratoga Springs, and parts of Eagle Mountain and Draper.

"It's not that we're not aware of the problem — we are," said Blaine Thomas, chairman of the district's board of directors. "But it takes a little time and a lot of money. We don't just want a Band-Aid fix, but it takes a little time and a lot of money to deal with it."

The district has currently enlisted the firm of Bowen, Collins & Associates to do a preliminary study to determine the source of the smell and look at cost-effective ways to deal with the problem.

Thomas said he hopes the study will be completed by the board's next meeting on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the district offices, located at 6400 N. 5050 West in American Fork. The meeting is open to the public.

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E-mail: achoate@desnews.com