The frequent smell of sewage has caught the attention of many students at Keene State College.
Abby Tanner, a first-year at Keene State, noted that when she passes through areas near the student center, or just on Appian Way, the smell is more prominent.
She stated “Not the greatest, hard to be on a beautiful campus and smell this odor it, puts a limitation on the experience here at Keene State College.”
Junior, Hannah Antoine, agreed the smell has not been a pleasant daily occurrence for her as she tries to avoid walking in those areas. “It’s very smelly and gross, sometimes smells like rotten eggs.”
According to Assistant Director of Facilities Services Colin Burdick, the smell seems to be coming from the storm drains scattered around campus. “They were recently cleaned out in late August, as done every year,” stated Burdick.
Burdick added, “The lack of rain we’ve had is causing the storm drains to emit a sewage smell due to them drying out. Hopefully, the rain recently will keep the water moving, and future rain will help to prevent the smell from surfacing.”
If the smell does not die down, Burdick and his team, “Are looking at river-friendly odor-neutralizing products we could use if we continue to not get any rain.”
Assistant Training Director and Mental Health Counselor at the Wellness Center Austin Hunt stated, “Associations with the smell may be triggering for individual students that have had former experiences with such.” According to Hunt, the issue stems from an “area on campus where students congregate, it may provide a reason or an excuse for inaccessibility in that particular space.”
Hunt said students may struggle with the smells on campus due to them disrupting their perception of a comfortable college environment.
“College is a new environment and our brains are primed to be alarmed for signals, wired and awake. And for some students, it can give off a signal and feed into other feelings about being skeptical in a new environment,” Hunt said.
Regarding situations such as this, Hunt said he looks for the silver lining in situations.
“Seen as it is an unpleasant experience, it can bond people to having something to commiserate on,” Hunt said. “Those who have similar valid complaints on the issue can have a shared experience through this.”
Katie Aguilar can be contacted at
kaguilar@kscequinox.com
