March 24, 2025
North Hornell Village Hall has been getting complaints recently about the strong sewer odor there on the streets of North Hornell. The complaints are being passed on to Hornell City officials, as the water system in North Hornell, comes from the City of Hornell. North Hornell village officials are said to be keeping documentation about the complaints. One North Hornell resident we spoke with, said the odor is all over the village. “It is even smelled sometimes inside people’s homes,” one North Hornell woman stated. “If you’re anywhere near a manhole, you’ll have to have your hand over your face.”
We checked in with Hornell Mayor John Buckley, who gave us the following statement: “There is no question that the odors are emanating from the Northern portion of the sewer line, in the Town of Hornellsville, coming through the Village of North Hornell. The odors are not emanating from the Hornell sewer plant, because the sewer plant is on the southern end of the line and receives, it does not have output. So we are tracking down the odors and we are testing samples, we sent samples out to labs so we are awaiting the results of those. We are working with Labella and Associates and our team here with Chief Operator Rich Dunning to try to get to the bottom of this and remediate it and improve the quality of life for residents throughout the City of Hornell and the Village of North Hornell.”
The Hornell mayor also noted that while most of the odor is in North Hornell, it also impacts other areas as well. “It does come into the City, Buckley explained. “However, there are pockets in Hornellsville. I did a tour of the line last week and I noticed that up in some of the area of Seneca Road North area, it had a really strong odor as well, so it’s not just the village, it’s the entire portion up there,” Buckley stated.
