Residents in Morris County are fed up with a significant odor they believe is coming from a sewage treatment plant near their homes.

However, Mount Olive Township is facing a legal hang-up in an effort to tame the stench.

"The smell is like you're literally in sewage or something," said Lynn Lemos who lives nearby. "It's really gross."

Residents who live off of Wolf Road in Mount Olive tell News 12 the smell follows them home. 

"I smell poop going inside the house and everything," said Mount Olive resident Ramon Rosario. "Inside, outside. You got the window open, you open the door, the smell is going to come right in."

Neighbors said they believe the smell that's been bothering them for years is coming from the Mount Olive sewer treatment plant.

"The last five years have been probably the worst," Lemos said.

Mount Olive Township filed a lawsuit against the sewer treatment plant back in 2024, seeking to gain entrance to the privately-owned facility.

"The initial complaints was to seek temporary relief, which was denied, but that case is still ongoing," said the township's Business Administrator Andrew Tatarenko. "We're still hoping we could get in there and investigate and find out exactly what is going on."

It's not just the residents who live near the sewer plant that are holding their noses, either.

Kids at a nearby middle school are also complaining about the smell.

"It's been spreading over the past couple of months," Mount Olive Mayor Joe Nicastro said. "When I thought the winter was here with cold weather, I thought it would eliminate some of that, but unfortunately, it's been actually worse."

The township said the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has issued code violations against the facility. 

"Our hands are tied with a lot of things because it is state-regulated by DEP," Nicastro said. "So, we're doing everything we can within our power, and I think most understand that, but it's frustrating, and I don't blame them."