The people who live next to the sewage pump station in Hermitage where about 500,000 gallons of backed-up sewage leaked into the Shenango River earlier this month wanted answers Monday when they went to a meeting of the board that oversees the sewage system.

“I don’t think anybody needs to live with that,” Francis Fetsko said of the stench that “permeated” his house after the spill. He asked members of the Upper Shenango Valley Water Pollution Control Authority board if anything can be done to temper the smell and wanted to know if the authority has a plan in place to keep such a spill from happening again.

The spill started Oct. 9 when a 100-foot section of a 24-inch sewer main collapsed near North Irvine Avenue in Sharon near West Hill Elementary School. It caused a backup that led to an overflow at the authority’s Orangeville Road pump station. The overflow ultimately went into the river.

It also saturated the ground in the area, which still smells, Fetsko said.

The authority’s engineer is developing a contingency plan to help with future problems and they can spread lime in the area to help with the smell, authority board member Dan Joyce said.

The authority’s executive director, Dale Bucher, said work to fix the problem is finished and the system is working properly again.

The state Department of Environmental Protection is investigating the spill and could levy a fine, DEP spokeswoman Freda Tarbell said.