A strong odor wafting over a Northampton residential development and northeast parts of the town was a topic raised by a borough councilman at the April 21 council meeting.

Councilman Robert McHale brought up the issue toward the end of the meeting. He said the smell is obvious in his neighborhood. The cluster of single-family homes is not too far from a borough-zoned industrial area.

In his travels throughout the borough, Manager Gene Zarayko said he has also noticed the smell, which some residents have called “foul” and “obnoxious.”

“So many places it could come from,” Zarayko said of possible origins of the odors.

“We need to come up with some kind of a plan,” McHale said.

Zarayko said he will ask Ted Veresink, borough health inspector, to investigate where the smells originate.

Councilman Anthony Lopsonzski Sr. contended Northampton Co-Generating is most likely not the culprit since the plant was closed down for the period when the odors first surfaced.

Lopsonzski said there is a large recycling operation in that area of the borough with trucks dropping off their loads all the time.

Zarayko said other companies operate in the industrial-zoned area as well.

In his report, Zarayko said, “We are becoming the recycling capital of Eastern Pennsylvania.”

“I don’t think it’s right,” Zarayko said of commercial vehicles coming in from New Jersey to unload truckload after truckload.