BATON ROUGE - Church-goers are not happy about a valve that's releasing a stinky odor into the air and permeating their neighborhood.

The valve is at Burgin Avenue and Boston Street behind the Korean Baptist Church. It stands high in the air and sits on a concrete slab. It's part of the sewer force main system that pumps from Pump Station No. 5 on Valley Street to South Wastewater Treatment Plant on Gardere Lane. People who live around it say they smell it day and night.

"It releases gas," said Ted Lee, who's a member of the church. "Bad, raw sewage gas you don't want to smell."

According to Lee, the valve was supposed to be temporary. The church was expecting it to be there for a period of about six months. Lee says a City-Parish engineer pitched a plan to the church last June and placed the valve on the church's property. Now that it's been a year, residents are concerned about what's taking so long.

"Nobody wants it in their backyard," said Lee.

On Sunday's, Lee says the church is full of families with children. The children often play outside, but he's worried about their health.

"It's not healthy," he said.

As the months drag on, Lee says this wasn't the deal. The church and its neighbors want it gone.

"We don't want to smell that thing around our neighborhood, period," he said.

The City-Parish confirms the work done on the property of the Korean Baptist Church is temporary. It's a solution to allow the air in the force main piping to be dissipated. It's tied to the air release valves on Burgin Avenue.

A permanent solution is currently being designed to entrap the current volume of air and is expected to be completed at the end of the year.

Following an inquiry by 2 On Your Side, the City-Parish says it will install an odor control vessel on the temporary valve, which will eliminate the current smell. Residents can expect to breathe better-smelling air within the next 30 days.