You don&#8217t have to be an odor expert to detect a stinky problem around HSBC Arena over

the years.

And recently, the problem was compounded.

A brief sewage backup in a secluded area inside the arena garnered Buffalo unwanted

national publicity during last month&#8217s NCAA Men&#8217s Basketball Tournament. Sports

Illustrated magazine even ran a blurb stating that "Buffalo reeked." The Associated Press

published an article that began: "Ooooh, that smell."

But as embarrassing and unpleasant as the sewage backup was, the problem was fleeting

compared with the long-term odor that Sabres fans and people attending other arena events have

coped with for years.

The explanation has been sulfur in the soil beneath the HSBC Atrium building across the

street from the arena. Lots of sulfur. Whenever it rains &#8212 and sometimes even when it

doesn&#8217t &#8212 passers-by smell what many have mistaken over the years for raw sewage.

The site was once home to a tannery, an HSBC spokesman said Thursday. Some unpleasant

byproducts seeped into the ground many decades before the bank bought the land, said Neil

Brazil, the bank&#8217s vice president of public affairs.

But the problem is expected to be solved by the end of April, Brazil said. Work will start

soon on a project that aims to capture the smelly groundwater, then redirect it into a

sanitary system and away from downtown before it can stink up the area.

"HSBC is working closely with city and county authorities to evaluate alternative methods

for disposing of treated groundwater from its Atrium facility," Brazil said.

It&#8217s about time, Buffalo Sabres fans, waterfront visitors and Atrium employees told a

reporter Thursday.

"It&#8217s just terrible. People shouldn&#8217t have to come downtown and smell this kind

of thing," said Ronnie Jelonek of Depew, who is in the lower Main Street area several times a

week. She said the stench gets so bad at times that it smells like human waste.

"It smells like a combination of really bad eggs and garbage that has been sitting for a

long time," said Danica Davis of Buffalo as she visited HSBC Arena Thursday to buy tickets to

an upcoming event.

One HSBC employee who was transferred to the Atrium building a month ago agreed.

"Sometimes I get out of my car in the morning, and I can&#8217t believe what I&#8217m

smelling," said the woman, who declined to give her name.

Brazil said the bank can&#8217t be blamed for the obnoxious odor. "This is a long-standing

legacy issue, with a tannery on the original site, coupled with a high water table," he said.

Officials were aware of the odor issues even as construction started two decades ago.

"When they were building it, they unearthed sulfur pockets, and that whole area smelled

horrible," recalled Buffalo Sewer Authority General Manager David Comerford.

The bank installed a sump pump in the Atrium&#8217s basement and has used a chemical that

is supposed to reduce the odor. But HSBC has acknowledged the system hasn&#8217t cut it. The

bank announced Thursday that it has hired MLP Plumbing & Mechanical of Cheektowaga to work on

the problem.

"We have engaged a firm and expect the project to be completed by the end of April," said

Brazil, who did not disclose the cost.

In addition to the system to capture the smelly groundwater, Comerford said, "There are

also going to be manhole covers installed that are impervious to smell."

The Sabres have fielded numerous complaints from fans over the years about the odor outside

the arena, team spokesman Mike Gilbert said. It&#8217s not a problem during every game, but it

is noticeable after heavy rain or a large amount of snow melt, he said.

"We are aware that there has been a sulfur problem over in the HSBC Atrium area, and

we&#8217re glad to hear there is a plan to remedy the situation," he said.

But the agency responsible for drumming up convention and tourism business said the smell

hasn&#8217t really been an issue. "We haven&#8217t had a single complaint about it from

someone attending an event," said Dottie Gallagher-Cohen, president and chief executive

officer of the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau.

As for the unrelated sewage problem that created a stench during the NCAA Tournament,

Gilbert described it as a "minor" backup. He said it occurred in an area that is not

accessible to the public where the arena&#8217s trash compactors are kept, near the parking

lot behind the arena.

The sewage didn&#8217t spill into public view, and the smell wasn&#8217t noticeable in the

arena, but some reporters had to walk past the area and noticed the odor, Gilbert said. The

backup was cleaned up within about 40 minutes, and arena staff used sanitizers and air

fresheners to deal with the lingering odor, he added.

Gilbert said it is unfortunate that Sports Illustrated chose to highlight problems when

this region had the highest average ticket-resale prices and the highest merchandise sales of

any hosts for the first weekend of NCAA Tournament games. "We can&#8217t control what SI

focuses on, but we know we staged a great event here," he said.

A public relations assistant at Sports Illustrated talked with the reporters who wrote

about the odor problem. "They were only referring to the sewage problem at HSBC [Arena], not

any smells that were outside," said Chris Mahr.

News Staff Reporter Stephen T. Watson contributed to this report.