MOUNT DORA, Fla. — In communities like Tangerine and Sullivan Ranch near Mount Dora, there is growing frustration about a foul smell that fills the air.
“Oh, it smells like sulfur. It’s really bad. It’s nauseating. It makes you wonder like, what exactly we’re breathing in?” said Sullivan Ranch resident Hunter File.
File is fairly new to the community but calls the smell embarrassing and told Channel 9 that they often can’t open windows or let children play outside.
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“It’s not something that you know, you want to wake up to and the first thing you smell is like, you just get smacked in the face with it,” File said.
The Florida State Department of Environmental Protection has noted a nearby private landfill and the city of Mount Dora’s wastewater treatment facility has contributed to the problem.
According to officials, they’ve each taken steps to curb it.
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Other neighbors told Channel 9 that the sewer-like smell has been coming and going for years and said whatever is being done isn’t helping.
It only seems to be getting worse and coming more often.
Residents have taken to social media asking people to show up at Mount Dora City Hall Tuesday night to speak out about it.
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Even though the impacted communities are outside city limits, they believe the smell is coming from inside the city and hope it can be identified and snuffed out.
“I mean, someone has to be held accountable. There’s only so much complaining that one can continue to do but I’m hoping you know, the more of us who show up and speak up something will change,” File said.
Last month, the city said it was planning to order an odor-testing device that could be here in February.
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