The smell of smoke was strong overnight Sunday and into Monday morning across eastern Jefferson County due to a deep underground fire that continues to burn at a Moody landfill, as it has for more than 50 days.

The smell of smoke since Sunday has drifted to and been detected in Trussville, Moody, Leeds, Irondale, in eastern Birmingham neighborhoods and on U.S. 280 in the vicinity of Grandview Medical Center, according to complaints on social media and air quality index monitors.

“It sort of comes and goes,” said St. Clair County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon.

The EPA air quality index at a monitor closest to the fire at Annie Lee Road registered 178 this morning, but has declined as the day progressed.

At 11 a.m., the index was 78 at Carrington Lakes in Trussville. An index of 51 to 100 is considered acceptable air quality, however there may be a risk for some people with 24 hours of exposure, especially those who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Higher than 150 is considered unhealthy, and over 300 is considered hazardous.

In late December, air quality index readings of more than 500 were common near the fire.

Over the past week or so, the air quality had improved somewhat, monitors showed.

The fire itself is not expanding, Batemon said.

“It’s not burning more, it’s burning less,” he said. “It’s a smoke issue, and then of course the wind direction. If it blows it in direction back towards Moody, I don’t get as many calls because a lot of that is a wooded area. If it goes toward Carrington Estates in Trussville, then I get a lot of calls.”

It’s also worse in the mornings and evenings, he said.

“It’s closer to the ground,” Batemon said. “We were told by ADEM that mornings and evenings are worse because the smoke hugs the ground.”

St. Clair County has declared an emergency, but is not authorized to spend money on private property, Batemon said.

The state Forestry Commission has sent crews and done some work at the site to ensure that the fire doesn’t spread outside the landfill, he said.

Environmental experts have warned against pouring water onto the fire, Batemon said.

That could create steam that carries more impurities into the air through the smoke, he said.

It could also create runoff that pollutes the Cahaba River watershed, he said.

“If you pour water on it and it runs off, we could be creating a water problem,” Batemon said.

Heavy rains have fallen on the landfill recently and did not put out the fire, which is burning 50 to 60 feet underground, he said.

The fire could take a month to burn itself out, or longer if it hits a coal seam, Batemon said.

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the owners and operators of the Environmental Landfill, Inc., which owns the site.

See also: Moody landfill fire: Class action lawsuit filed against ‘illegal unauthorized dump site’