A sulfuric, rotten egg smell permeated the chamber of the South Dakota House of Representatives on March 10, delaying lawmakers’ afternoon session at the state Capitol in Pierre.

At least one representative took shelter in the Senate chamber, where lawmakers were debating whether to create a Capitol restoration fund and seed it with $1.1 million. Sen. Jim Mehlhaff, R-Pierre, used the incident to explain his support for the idea — and poke fun at representatives’ potentially excessive flatulence.

“There’s been a leak of gas over in the House chamber. I believe it’s coming from the radiator system, or perhaps it’s from some of their members,” Mehlhaff said. “In any case, I think there is a need to take a look at the inner workings of this building and to start a fund to pay for those repairs.”

Plaster cracks, goose droppings, and an un-Flaming Fountain: the SD Capitol conundrum

The issue turned out to be a sewer line leak. There was a hole in an “aging steam pipe” used for the building’s heating system, said Bureau of Human Resources and Administration’s Leah Haugan. Steam escaping through the hole burned through a nearby plastic sewer line and caused the leak.

Plumbers and custodial staff were dispatched to clean up what Republican House Speaker Jon Hansen of Dell Rapids called a “pretty nasty mess.”

The $1.1 million will help pay for repairs and upgrades to the 116-year-old building, last restored nearly 40 years ago ahead of the state’s 1989 centennial. The state has invested millions in recent years to fix plaster cracks, clear Capitol Lake of goose droppings and study the cost of a full restoration and renovation.

The state official in charge of maintaining the Capitol and its grounds guessed last year that the total would be between $150 million and $200 million. An earlier version of the bill creating the restoration fund sought to seed it with $25 million. Lawmakers set aside $3 million in 2025 to begin some repairs and study the extent of the Capitol’s needs.

Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed the restoration fund bill on Thursday. He also signed bills setting the budget for the current and coming fiscal years, transferring $101 million from the budget reserves for a range of special projects, and revising property tax levies for school districts. The last of those bills was part of a multi-pronged compromise package between Rhoden and lawmakers to provide property tax relief.

Rhoden has signed 190 bills from the 2026 legislative session into law and vetoed one.