A foul, sewage like odor rolled across parts of New Orleans East yesterday, sending people back indoors and flooding City Hall with complaints. Neighbors say the stench is coming off the Dwyer Canal and that this is not a one day problem, with similar smells hanging over the area for weeks.
As reported by WWNO, the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) told a City Council committee that crews have found discharges at four spots along the Dwyer Canal and are now running water tests. SWBNO officials said the flow appears to be coming from a storm drain even though the weather is dry, and could be tied to either potable water lines or sewer lines. "We have crews out there. We are evaluating the situation. We're doing the proper testing, and the engineers will look at it and analyze what's the next step," the utility's executive director told council members, adding that engineers are still figuring out what happens next.
Past dumping raises enforcement questions
Records and reporting from last year show the utility signed off on pumping untreated sewage into roadside storm drains in New Orleans East in May 2025, an episode that triggered a state investigation and revealed fecal coliform levels far above what is considered safe, according to New Orleans CityBusiness. With that history in mind, residents and environmental advocates say the latest odor has them worried they are seeing a sequel to earlier contamination problems rather than a one off nuisance.
Neighbors demand answers
Community organizer Sage Michael Pellet of Healthy Gulf told the council, "When sewer systems fail, it impacts our health, our quality of life, and the environment. For that reason, sewer discharges to the Dwyer Canal must remain a priority and treat it as an emergency now," according to reporting from WWNO. District E Councilman Jason Hughes said his office first flagged the problem for SWBNO as early as December, and neighbors told the committee the smell was horrific and at times so intense it made being outside unbearable.
What comes next
SWBNO says water quality testing is underway but has not given residents a timeline for when the odor might clear up or what the samples are likely to reveal, according to WWLTV. State regulators have investigated similar spills before and could seek enforcement action if new test results show violations, a possibility that looms large given last year's reporting on sewage pumped into storm drains.
