Frank Marion used to light candles to mask the odor.

Marion, who owns a home about 300 feet from the Millersville landfill, has complained since 2008 about the smell of rotten eggs permeating his home on an almost-daily basis.

Now, Marion and other neighbors say the odor has gotten progressively worse - stronger and more frequent - and is causing nausea, vomiting and headaches among some residents.

"It has totally destroyed my life," Marion said.

Last week, about a dozen of the residents met to discuss remedies: They are requesting that Anne Arundel County appoint a third party to monitor emissions from the landfill and to test the air and well water to determine if there are any contaminants.

Matt Diehl, a spokesman for the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works, said employees have visited Marion's home in response to complaints, and have taken steps to mitigate the smell, which he described as "intermittent and nonpersistent."

"That close to a landfill where we bury trash on a daily basis, certainly you're going to find odors," Diehl said. "We're not saying there's not a problem. We've taken measures to try to mitigate the odors. We strive to be a good neighbor."

In a letter to Marion on Wednesday, the Maryland Department of the Environment said it had conducted recent odor surveys in the area and had witnessed off-site odors from the landfill on three occasions. MDE said it issued a "site complaint" to the county Department of Public Works, requiring it to "take all measures necessary to prevent nuisance/landfill odors off-site." The site complaint does not incur a penalty but acts as a warning.

As a result, according to the letter, the county has reactivated its odor misting stations, used technology to minimize the smell of hydrogen sulfide, and submitted to MDE a plan to expand its landfill gas collection system.

The county's timeline puts the completion date of the expanded gas collection system at about mid-September, said Dawn Stoltzfus, a spokeswoman for MDE.

Marion also contacted the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which said in correspondence this week that a lack of air-monitoring data prevented the agency from determining the community's exposure to air emissions.

Diehl said his department is "trying to gather information to see if there's anything we can do about an air monitoring or air testing."

The Millersville landfill, which is about 30 years old, is the county's only operational landfill. Some county waste is also shipped to a facility in Virginia under an agreement that is in effect until 2013. After that, all county garbage will go to Millersville.

Kathi Harris, who also lives near the landfill and has three young children, said she has called off plans to install a pool in the yard because of the smells.

"We just want to know what we're being exposed to," said Harris, who said she frequently experiences nausea. "We can't go outside."

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