by Paul Jacob

It is at its worst at night, when the wind lets up and the fog is low.

“It” is the stench from the sewage treatment plant in New London, Connecticut.

Citizens have been complaining for some time. It's not exactly a new problem.

And the whole issue suggests, to me, that the government of New London, which is ultimately responsible for the sewage treatment system, should have been paying closer attention to this basic — most basic, most very, very basic — service.

It is not as if the city of New London hasn't spent millions on its sewage system. It's just that the money has been ineffective. Especially on weekends, or nights, when the smell is worse.

There's a pattern here. New London condemned Fort Trumbull neighborhood homes to give to the New London Development Corp. The city was sued by one of the owners, Suzette Kelo, and the case went to the Supreme Court. The city won. The homes — including Ms. Kelo's — were paid for at government-determined rates, the area razed.

And yet Pfizer has not moved in. The whole area remains flat.

And stinky.

It turns out that Fort Trumbull neighborhood home-owners had been complaining about the stench before the whole Kelo cased blew up.

We've been saying there's something rotten in New London for a long time. We just didn't know how literally correct we were.

Paul Jacob's "Common Sense" is published by the Citizens in Charge Foundation. Their website can be visited at www.citizensincharge.org.