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Friday, September 24, 2004

Environment - Odor, odor everywhere

"Portage plant blamed for odor" is the headline to this story today in the Gary Post Tribune that reports:


OGDEN DUNES — A strong odor that led to a complaint and investigation by the county and state has been traced to Precoat Metals, a state environmental agency said Thursday.

Amy Hartsock, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, said IDEM and Porter County Hazmat inspectors responded to an odor complaint Wednesday night. Hartsock said they determined the smell was coming from the company.

“We want to investigate whether Precoat’s equipment is operating as efficiently as it should,” Hartsock said Thursday afternoon. “We have asked for the company’s stack-testing data, which will tell us whether the company is meeting the requirements.” * * *

Ogden Dunes resident Mark Coleman, a member of the town’s environmental committee, said he had called and complained to IDEM about the smell for the past three days. Though emission odors are not unusual to that area, Coleman said the smell has been particularly bad after 5 p.m. each day.

Hartsock said Precoat Metals, located at 6300 U.S. 12 in Portage, was applying a coating with pollution controls to metal Wednesday night. Hartsock said that after IDEM reviews the stack-testing data, it will determine if there is a ongoing connection between the area’s odors and the company’s stacks.

In answer to continuing odor issues in New Castle is this story published yesterday in the Muncie Star-Press with the memorable headline: "'Anyone with half a brain' knows source of odor, neighbor says." Some quotes:
NEW CASTLE - Melissa Raines is amazed that Metaldyne continues to deny that its factory emits any odor.

Her dad worked at the factory, formerly owned by DaimlerChrysler, for 36 years, retiring a year ago in July. The factory makes automobile chassis components.

"There is obviously an odor, and my dad smelled like that every day he came home from Chrysler, so they can't say it isn't coming from them," said Raines, who lives three blocks north of the factory. "For 27 years of my life, he smelled like that."

Raines said the odor from the factory enters her house. "It's very odd - musty smelling, almost like a rotten chemical," she said in an interview. "It's very nasty smelling. Sometimes it's horrendous, and other times it's faint. Anybody with half a brain knows it's coming from there." * * *

When metal-working fluids smell bad, like a "locker room," it usually means there is biological growth, which should be treated with biocide, according to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 24, 2004 08:53 AM
Posted to Environmental Issues