(MURFREESBORO)  What's that smell? City of Murfreesboro and Republic Sanitation officials are both trying to determine the source of a smell that comes and goes over the 'Boro. 

The Republic team at Middle Point Landfill provided an update on their efforts to determine potential sources of 40 reports of potential offsite odors.

These complaints were all received over the past week. Fourteen of those reports provided enough detailed information – in real time or close to real time – for the team at Middle Point to respond and investigate. Of those, five were considered to have been potentially attributable to on-site operations, based on detailed descriptions, weather conditions, and wind speed/direction.

Republic's Middle Point Landfill General Manager Jeremy Jernigan said, “Some of the odor descriptions we received do not match what we typically think of as landfill. Nevertheless, we are committed to responding to every credible report and doing our part to give you answers.”

Murfreesboro officials also recently announced the installation and monitoring of hydrogen sulfide gas detection equipment at several of its sewage pump stations and manholes, and the city continues to monitor gas levels in the Compton Road area.

For its part, Middle Point is installing 30 new or replacement landfill gas extraction wells, which will further optimize gas collection and control systems. Jernigan says crews are accelerating work plans to complete the project as quickly as possible.

In the interim, the community is reminded to provide specific details when contacting the landfill team, such as:

• Location (address, cross streets or landmark) where odor is detected
• Time of day when odor is detected
• Weather or wind conditions at the time
• Identifying any other potential sources or infrastructure in the vicinity
• Description of the type of odor detected (sewer, trash, gas or other)
• Potency of the odor detected (from 1 [barely detectable] to 5 [high])

Jernigan commented, “We’re grateful for the community’s responsiveness in the past week. Sharing detailed, real-time odor information via the Middle Point website only takes a minute, and it gets our team actionable information. Every data point is another piece of the puzzle.”

When sharing an odor concern, please go to https://middlepointlandfill.com/.