RI lawmakers promise to sniff out landfill odor

[December 08, 2011]  PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Rhode Island residents have complained for weeks about foul odors wafting from the state's main landfill, so state lawmakers are pledging to investigate and see where their noses lead them.

The General Assembly announced Wednesday that state Rep. Stephen Ucci (OO'-chee) will lead a commission that will try to put an end to the rotten-egg smell at the Johnston landfill. The odor has prompted complaints from as far away as Attleboro, Mass., about 14 miles away.

Ucci says he has received more constituent calls about the odor than any other issue in his seven years in the Legislature.

The agency that operates the landfill blames recent rains for the smell and has installed vents to trap gasses coming from it.

The commission's first meeting is scheduled for Dec. 16.

[Associated Press]

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