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It remains unclear why, exactly, a drainage area in eastern Henrico County smells bad.

The issue has come to the fore as a developer prepares to demolish the nearby Fairfield Commons Mall and erect a shopping center that will be anchored by a Walmart supercenter. The drainage, across Eastgate Boulevard from the mall to the east, is part of the same privately owned property.

At county meetings about the project, residents have consistently asked that the area be made to smell better. So far, county officials looking into the area haven’t been able to come to concrete agreement on the source of the problem, though there have been suggestions that water at the bottom is creating the odor.

Steven J. Yob, the county’s director of public works, said his department has confirmed that the county doesn’t hold a maintenance easement for the area.

“We’ve never been able to confirm that (the water) is the source of any odor,” Yob said. “At this point, we don’t even know that the ditch is the source of the odor.”

Because a sewer runs through the area and the odor was reported, county workers also checked the area, said Arthur D. Petrini, the public utilities director for the county.