That vanilla smell? It’s the wastewater treatment plant

PASCAGOULA, Miss. – The air is a little sweeter now that a Mississippi Gulf Coast community is spraying a vanilla scent to mask the odor of its wastewater treatment plant.

More than two dozen machines recently started blowing scented mist into the air 19 hours a day at the Pascagoula-Moss Point wastewater plant.

The owner of a wig and jewelry boutique near the plant, Gerrie Hicks, tells WLOX-TV that she previously noticed a “foul odor” lingering in the air. She says that now it’s possible to sit outside or walk around downtown Pascagoula without being bothered by the smell.

The Jackson County Utility Authority director, Tommy Fairfield Jr., says the vanilla scent was selected by a smell team.

Utility representatives visited Gulf Shores, Alabama, and studied the scent-sweetening system there before installing one in Pascagoula.

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Information from: WLOX-TV, http://www.wlox.com