By Susan Redden

sredden@joplinglobe.com

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Carthage Mayor Jim Woestman and Tricia Orr, also a Carthage resident, were among more than a half-dozen people who addressed the Missouri Air Conservation Commission on Thursday and called for stricter state odor regulations.

Most of those who addressed the panel were members of a state group named by the Department of Natural Resources to draw up recommendations for the commission.

The majority of speakers called for stricter state regulations, with Woestman and Orr citing odors they say come from Renewable Environmental Solutions, a Carthage operation that converts poultry byproducts into fuel oil and other marketable materials. Others raised concerns about smells from large animal feeding operations.

Also during the session, state officials announced that plans are under way for an independent odor study in Carthage.

Leanne Tippett-Mosby, with the DNR’s Division of Environmental Quality, said the state has decided to pay for the work, and that proposals from potential contractors are to be submitted by Aug. 10.

“We want to do this as a pilot project, and control it, because we want to test the technology for our potential use,” she said.

Stricter standards

Woestman said he is pleased that the state will take full control of the project.

The state originally had agreed to the study after Brian Appel, president of Renewable Environmental Solutions, said he would pay for the work. Appel contends his plant is no longer the source of odor problems in Carthage.

Woestman and Orr both disagreed with that contention in their comments before the commission. They said ongoing odor problems from the plant have hurt Carthage and its residents. Both said they favor a stricter dilution standard that the current 7-to-1 ratio now required for state enforcement.

Woestman said the RES plant has made improvements, but it still sometimes emits “a stink bad enough to make you lose your appetite.”

“You can ask any restaurant in a two-mile radius,” the mayor said. “The way it is now, it can hurt the quality of life in Carthage and still not be a violation. That’s why a 2-1 ratio would make a lot more sense in populated areas.”

Orr said a lower ratio and stricter enforcement “would protect all citizens.”