By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

CARTHAGE, Mo. — The Carthage City Council’s public works committee has directed the city’s attorney to write up a new ordinance to deal with offensive odors.

The action Tuesday afternoon is yet another step in the city’s four-year, unsuccessful effort to rid its residents of what they describe as a sickening stink that has plagued the town since Renewable Environmental Solutions opened up shop.

The ordinance would be used by city officials to enforce clean-air standards and deal with odor violations that come from businesses and industries in the city limits. The city has taken legal action in the past against RES in connection with odor problems that city officials and residents have identified as coming from the plant.

The committee made its recommendation after a presentation by City Attorney Nate Dally and City Administrator Tom Short. A draft of the new ordinance is expected to be brought up for discussion at the panel’s meeting Jan. 6.

Dally and Short said they have studied similar ordinances in cities such as Springfield to use as a guide for crafting a new set of rules for Carthage. The Springfield ordinance gives the city power to inspect, fine or request an injunction against an offending business.

The current Carthage ordinance gives the offender, after being cited for an odor, five days to correct the problem.

Short said the city has been working with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to resolve complaints, but that the effort has been unsuccessful in resolving persistent complaints.

“DNR has been rerouting everything back to the city and putting the onus on the city to do something,” he said.

Despite many odor complaints from Carthage residents, the DNR has not issued an odor violation since 2006 because the smell must be detected at a 7-to-1 dilution by state inspectors twice in a certain time period.

Dally and Short discussed the possibility of the city adopting a stricter standard, such as a 4-to-1 dilution, but they said those changes might affect other businesses as well.

“This is a decision that if we put these in place, everyone is going to be affected by it,” Dally said. “Ultimately, with any of these ordinances, you’re going to have to get cooperation from businesses to find solutions to the problem.”

The committee also directed Short to prepare a report on expenses the city might incur for the purchase of equipment and training for public works employees.

No one associated with RES spoke at the meeting or appeared to be in attendance. Officials with the company, a biofuels rendering plant, have said the plant is not responsible for recent odors. They have cited expenditures of more than $3 million for odor controls.