Discussion: Naugatuck Smells Like Regret and Dirty Diapers

Every day, I cruise through the Connecticut Reddit page to see what folks from the Nutmeg State are chatting about, and recently I found a discussion I could not avoid: a smelly town. A Reddit user who goes by Voth_Taron posted the following:

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Naugatuck smells like sewage

Moved to Naugatuck last year with my girlfriend, lease is coming up soon, and we plan on relocating as soon as possible. Initially, we just moved here because there was a decently priced apartment located between both our jobs, but holy s---, man, I cannot believe nobody mentioned the disgusting smell that permeates seemingly the entire town several times a week. I leave my apartment at 6 AM for work, and there are just some mornings, as soon as I open the door, I get a nice huge waft of this intense wet garbage smell. This has come up several times in conversation with my friends, and I hear random things at parties like 'there is a sulfur factory that dumps into the river,' but does anyone have an explanation for this, and is this being addressed at all by the town? I mean, g-- damn, it’s disgusting. I can't wait to leave, and I feel bad for bringing my girl here.

EDIT: Felt the need to establish myself as a valley dweller, Seymour born and raised. Saw someone linked an article from like 2009 talking about the same thing I am. Insane they’ve been doing this for so long.

As Voth mentioned, this is not a new problem. Here is an excerpt from the 2009 NBC CT article he referenced:

It smells like raw sewage, they say. The source, they think, is the water treatment plant run by Veolia Water.

They go on to say that the company was fined by DEEP that year to the tune of $2,600 and told to "hire a consultant to come up with a plan to fix the problem."

Looks like that problem worked itself out. What year is it?

Here were some of the many amazing responses in the CT Reddit thread:

CerberusElite: "You probably live close to the Naugatuck sewage plant that's by the river."

WelcomeFormer: "I guess if it's under a certain threshold, it's considered partially treated sewage and is deemed legal. Naugy smells like it dances on that line lol."

FalseMagpie: "I swear, sometimes if the wind hits the right (wrong) way, it drafts the smell right down the river."

coolducklingcool: "Yeah, Naugatuck smells. It always has. As someone who spent 25 years in the Valley, it’s just a fact of life. Some parts don’t smell, though, so if you’re looking to stay in Naugatuck, try the Field St area or maybe Maple Hill. Farther from the river. That apartment was decently priced for a reason."

jellybelly326: "I literally laughed out loud when I read this. LMAO. Bought a house in Naugatuck in 2018 and it for surely smells like poop. I'm settled in with a 2.5% interest rate with a little over $100K left to go on my house, so we're just gonna eau de poop all day long."

Blkkatem0ss: "I live in Naugatuck, and where I live, I can’t smell anything. It’s closer to the river that the smell gets real."

ParticularRaccoon442: "Lmao, my ex lives on the smelly side. He is also a piece of s--, so he might be making the smell worse."

gatogrande: "Still? We always modified the 'kiss me where it stinks' joke as kids to Naugy. Mostly because of Uniroyal back then."

clintnorth: "I mean, yea bro, you moved to Naugatuck. What did you think was gonna happen?"

zeek_90: "Yep... a few nights ago it was smelling extra Naugatucky. But I will say that it stinks less often than it did 20 years ago."

Spicyperfection: "The only one mentioning 'That Smell' is Lynyrd Skynyrd."

BeenBanned69Times: "You know why? People piss there."

Let's give a round of applause to the comment from ParticularRaccoon442: "Lmao, my ex lives on the smelly side. He is also a piece of s--, so he might be making the smell worse."

Well played, Raccoon. I see you. I have to ask, did the smell contribute the breakup?

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