Frankie Graninger

The development of the Ocean Lakes neighborhood community showed from the period of 1974-1994. R.G. Moore was the primary developer of the area. (VB Historical Aerial Viewer / City of Virginia Beach / ArcGis / CC BY)

For years, the students of Ocean Lakes High School have suffered a smell — a smell that comes upwind of the school. Known informally as the “poop plant” or “poop factory,” the Atlantic Treatment Plant is the culprit of this stench.

The history.

The plant was first proposed in the early 1970s, just after the passage of the Clean Water Act of 1972. The Clean Water Act made it a federal offense to discharge pollutants, such as sewage, into “navigable waters” like seas, oceans and bays. This means that more sewage had to be treated if the water was to be reintroduced to the natural environment. Some government funds allocated to construction of new sewage treatment plants by the Clean Water Act were given to the Atlantic Treatment Plant (ATP). 

The plant finished construction in the early 1980s, opening in 1983.

Coinciding with this construction, the Malbon family pig farm, established in the 1920s and the largest hog farm on the East Coast, was sold for $4.9 million to the developer R.G. Moore, one of the most prolific developers in Virginia at the time. He developed the neighborhoods of Landstown, Salem, Red Mill and many more. Over the next ten years, R.G. Moore developed the Ocean Lakes neighborhood, which meant that a new high school needed to be built as well: our very own Ocean Lakes High School.

Over the past ten years, though, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake have witnessed an increased reliance on the ATP. For one, in 2021, the Chesapeake-Elizabeth Treatment Plant shut down, leading to the former area served by that plant coming to the ATP. It increased daily treatment from 28 million gallons, to 43 million gallons processed, an increase of 53%. This has led to expansions being planned for the plant.

According to AP Environmental Science teacher Nicholas DiNapoli, who went on a field trip to the plant last year with his class, the smell is the drying of organic matter that was separated from the sewage so that the clean water can be released into the Atlantic Ocean. The dried matter is used in fertilizers and other organic products. Similar to many other treatment plants, the smell produced because of this process is probably ammonia or hydrogen sulfide.

The smell.

Many at Ocean Lakes are sick of this nasal conundrum. Susan John, long-time math teacher at Ocean Lakes, noted that there has been an increase in complaints on the social media website “Nextdoor” about the smell from the treatment plant.

Another website that showcases everyday people’s grievances, change.org, has its very own petition to demand solutions to the smell of the treatment plant.

The petition organizer, going under the name Tracy F., observes, “Residents living in areas surrounding the HRSD Atlantic Treatment Plant in Virginia Beach, VA have been experiencing foul odors for many years originating from this plant.”

Additionally, last year, on June 8, 2024, a protest was held by the neighborhood for them to voice their concerns.

Of course, almost everyone here at Ocean Lakes has had enough with the smell that comes from that plant.

“I’m not a fan of it. It really is not a good thing for the community to have that odor lingering around,” junior Brady Curulla said. “I think that it is a source of notoriety for our school, and [the smell] associates our school with a bad feeling.”

Some recounted their first experiences with the smell.

“One day, I walked out the door — one of my first days at Ocean Lakes as a freshman — and I was immediately hit by a strong odor and was wondering where it came from,” senior Raghav Mantri commented. “Over the years, I learned where the scent originated.”

The change.

Many in the Ocean Lakes community desire a solution to the problem of the sewage treatment plant. Since people have started high school at Ocean Lakes, they smell it so much to the point where many have stopped caring for the smell. Why should they get used to a smell that is, quite literally, the smell of a toilet? Why should the community resignedly accept it as well? Why should anyone before us or after us have to become accustomed to it? We are a high school; there is no choice but to come to school, and it feels like everyday, we are being marched into a situation we have no control over.

Evidently, only one solution is apparent: They fix the problem, or the community will suffer indefinitely.