The Butler Area Sewer Authority might have to spend more than $500,000 to end its smell problem at its sewage treatment plant on Route 8.

Allen Potter, an odor consultant who did a study of the Litman Road, Butler Township, plant smell issues, today gave his estimates to fix the smell problem to authority members.

Potter said he determined BASA's solutions are twofold: The first is to raise the stacks that vent the two air scrubbers higher in the sky, so the air expelled is able to blow away from the valley between the Greater Butler Mart shopping center and the Days Inn on Route 8.

Currently, the buildings next to the stacks are higher than the stacks, meaning the vented exhaust is not able to readily reach wind currents and so becomes trapped lower to the ground.

Potter also recommended adding an additional chemical air cleaning process to one of the scrubbers to eliminate smells created during the sewage breakdown process.

Potter said in talking to a supplier of stack and scrubber equipment, he estimates it would cost:

• $86,350 to raise the post-processing stack

• $221,650 to raise the preprocessing stack

• $330,850 to add an additional process to the scrubber

The BASA board will discuss the issue more at its next meeting.