Odor Study Under Way in Delaware
Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:46 pm
DOVER, Del. (AP) - Even though it's been almost three years, Tina Robinson can distinctly recall when she first noticed the odor that sometimes permeates her home.
"It literally woke me up out of my sleep," the East Wilmington resident said. "My dog was throwing up because of the stench."
Robinson's wake-up call, along with hundreds of other complaints received over the years from people living along the heavily industrialized Interstate 495 corridor, is the subject of a state study.
Having established an "odor round-table" that includes industry representatives and lawmakers and taken "chemical signatures" of landfills, sewage facilities and industrial sites, officials are taking field samples in response to complaints, most of which come from the Edgemoor area northeast of Wilmington.
State officials are trying to sniff out the source or sources of the odors by comparing the field samples to the chemical signatures of 18 industrial facilities.
"It's a responsible, scientific approach to identifying odor sources," said David Small, deputy secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
But some area residents say the answer is as plain as the nose on your face.
"I think it's the landfill," said Steve Tindall, referring to the 240-acre Cherry Island landfill run by the Delaware Solid Waste Authority. "I've been to the landfill and I've smelled the smell, and they're the same. ... You open a bag of week-old garbage, that's what it smells like."
State and federal environmental officials announced fines last week of more than $200,000 against the DSWA for repeatedly failing to control emissions from the landfill of gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide.
But while the DSWA has received at least six criminal citations over the past year for violating a state law against odor emissions, it is not the only landfill in the area, nor the only possible source of odors.
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"It literally woke me up out of my sleep," the East Wilmington resident said. "My dog was throwing up because of the stench."
Robinson's wake-up call, along with hundreds of other complaints received over the years from people living along the heavily industrialized Interstate 495 corridor, is the subject of a state study.
Having established an "odor round-table" that includes industry representatives and lawmakers and taken "chemical signatures" of landfills, sewage facilities and industrial sites, officials are taking field samples in response to complaints, most of which come from the Edgemoor area northeast of Wilmington.
State officials are trying to sniff out the source or sources of the odors by comparing the field samples to the chemical signatures of 18 industrial facilities.
"It's a responsible, scientific approach to identifying odor sources," said David Small, deputy secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
But some area residents say the answer is as plain as the nose on your face.
"I think it's the landfill," said Steve Tindall, referring to the 240-acre Cherry Island landfill run by the Delaware Solid Waste Authority. "I've been to the landfill and I've smelled the smell, and they're the same. ... You open a bag of week-old garbage, that's what it smells like."
State and federal environmental officials announced fines last week of more than $200,000 against the DSWA for repeatedly failing to control emissions from the landfill of gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide.
But while the DSWA has received at least six criminal citations over the past year for violating a state law against odor emissions, it is not the only landfill in the area, nor the only possible source of odors.
Click here for full story
