By Susan Redden
sredden@joplinglobe.com
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Conflicting arguments on stricter odor rules were pressed Thursday before a state panel by Carthage city officials and spokesmen for Renewable Environmental Solutions.
Representatives of the biofuels company in the Carthage bottoms also said the plant is not responsible for the odors reported to the city and state in recent months.
Carthage Mayor Jim Woestman and Nate Dally, city attorney, urged the Missouri Air Conservation Commission to endorse stricter enforcement standards that have been under discussion for nearly a year.
Woestman said odors coming from RES continue to generate complaints from Carthage residents.
“They won’t acknowledge the problem, but we know exactly where the odor is coming from,” the mayor told members of the commission at a meeting in Springfield.
“We don’t want to run any business out of town,” he said. “We want to be friendly to them, but want them to be friendly to us.”
Businesses now are cited by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources as being in violation of state law when odors they emit can be detected at a dilution of 7-to-1. Lowering that threshold should prompt state action that would force industries to resolve odor problems not currently being addressed, the mayor said.
“There needs to be a statewide standard,” Woestman said. “I agree 4-to-1 is too strict, but 7-to-1 is too lax,” he said.
Carthage area residents made 40 complaints to the state in July and August, but no odors were cited as violating state rules.
RES was identified as the suspected source in 40 of the complaints, but Matt Larsen, attorney for the company, said the blame is misplaced.
“Our plant has odor controls no other industry in that area has,” he said. “All the plant is under negative pressure and the odors don’t leave. We believe there is no reason to lower the (dilution threshold) standard or to single out RES.”
The company added odor controls some years ago after it was the subject of a nuisance suit filed by the city and the Missouri attorney general’s office. More recently, it is being sued by some Carthage residents seeking monetary damages and class-action status.
Stacy Dennison, in charge of safety and environmental programs for RES, said the company “wants to do the right thing,” but is not responsible for recent odor complaints.
The commission also heard arguments in favor of a lower threshold from two residents who live near large hog CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) in the northeast part of the state.
“The odors are real, and if the state doesn’t issue a violation, it’s not addressed,” said Terry Spence.
Spence said he agreed with Woestman that the state “needs to start somewhere,” adding “we’ve been dealing with the CAFO problem for 13 years now and it’s not getting any better.
“Our goal is a resolution for us and our families, and we’d like it to come in our lifetime.”
Spence was a member of an odor work group assembled by DNR to look at the need for stricter odor rules. Recommendations from the group have been under review by the commission for a year.
In response to those discussions, the commission had asked state inspectors to sample odors at thresholds lower than the 7-1 standard. The panel heard a review of first-round results, but were told not enough data had been collected to reach a conclusion.
Ron Boyer, an industry representative on the commission, said the panel should make no change in the current odor standard, should not subject CAFOs to stricter rules, and should not target RES for more stringent odor limits.
He said animal agriculture in Missouri “is under assault” and criticized a recent Cole County Circuit Court decision that ruled CAFOs could not be located with 15 miles of a state park or historic site.
Others on the commission agreed to continue review of Boyer’s proposal, along with recommendations of the odor work group.
Commission
The Air Conservation Commission adopts and amends rules related to air quality that are enforced by the air pollution control program of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
