The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Carthage, Jasper County

Discussion

April 25, 2008

State considers aiming more sensitive sniffers at Carthage smells

By Susan Redden

sredden@joplinglobe.com

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage odors may soon be the focus of more study from two different directions.

State officials are considering additional analysis by a Texas-based company hired to investigate odors in the city’s industrial bottoms.

And, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources is preparing more sensitive odor-testing equipment that will be trained on smells in Carthage and other parts of the state.

Both steps are initiatives of the Missouri Air Conservation Commission whose members are studying proposals for new, stricter state odor rules.

Equipment used to check odors is being modified to register at rates lower than the 7-to-1 threshold that now triggers regulatory action by the state, said Rebecca Birke, a spokeswoman for the Air Pollution Control Program of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

DNR inspectors will use the modified equipment in odor investigations, and collect additional information on when a violation would occur at lower levels, she said.

The need for a lower odor threshold has been cited frequently by Carthage Mayor Jim Woestman, in outlining odor problems from Renewable Environmental Solutions, a Carthage plant that converts poultry waste into crude oil and other materials. The plant has not been cited for an odor violation at or above the 7-to-1 threshold for almost two years, though there have been many complaints to DNR by residents. Woestman has attended a number of state meetings to lobby for stricter odor rules.

“I think it’s positive if they’re experimenting with a 6-to-1 or 5-to-1 threshold,” Woestman said Friday.

Testing that includes the revised levels has not started, because state equipment has been sent back to the manufacturer for retrofitting, Birke said.

ACC members will use the odor information as part of its odor rules review, along with work by Don Wright, of Microanalytics Inc., who studied odors in Carthage’s industrial bottoms under a contract with DNR.

Wright presented a report on the study conducted late last year before a meeting Thursday of the ACC in Jefferson City.

“He presented his Phase 1 report on the specific chemical markers from odors, or combinations of odors, prevalent in the area,” Birke said.

She said DNR officials hope the study now can move to a second phase in which the tester would go into specific companies and operations in the Carthage industrial bottoms and collect odor information there “to find out if the same chemical marker might be emanating from some factories or industries.”

That phase of the study, like the first contract with Wright, will have to be submitted for competitive bids.

Proposed rules under review by the commission would retain 7-to-1 as the threshold for a violation, but would establish a non-punitive 4-to-1 threshold that would trigger a requirement for the industry or other site to work with DNR to address the problem.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Gary Nodler to address the RES issue would revoke the company’s state permit if it gets cited for six violations in one year or 12 within three years. Revoking the sate permit would essentially force the plant to close.

The bill, narrowly worded to address RES, received initial Senate approval this week.



Lawsuits

Odors from RES earlier triggered a public nuisance lawsuit filed by the state and the city of Carthage. That suit was settled after the plant installed more odor-control equipment. Now, the plant is the subject of a lawsuit filed by Cynthia Sundy, a Carthage resident, contending odors from the plant are a nuisance and the company has been negligent.



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