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Neighbors of Monitor Sugar Co.'s operation on Hotchkiss Road have
long complained of foul odors coming from the composting waste of
sugar beets.
Now the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has joined
the chorus, telling the company in a letter this week to address not
only the smell but also to cease discharge of storm water and
wastewater from the site that is polluting nearby waterways.
By Oct. 31, the company must provide the DEQ with its plans for
more wastewater treatment and for making sure the handling of waste
material doesn't violate environmental standards by smelling too
bad.
Judy Bagley, director of communications for Monitor, said the
company would not comment beyond a written statement that says the
company intends to work with the DEQ "to remedy the
situation."
"... Since 1986 the company has invested in excess of $30
million to install the process equipment necessary to minimize any
negative impact on the environment, including the operation of the
Hotchkiss Road site.
"We remain sensitive to the concerns of the residents
surrounding the Hotchkiss area and hope to alleviate problems with
that site in a timely manner," said the statement.
Those nearby residents include Florine Easter, who has lived in
her home down the street from the Hotchkiss Road site for more than
30 years. The stench isn't constant. But when it does kick up,
enjoying the outdoors is impossible, she said.
"We were going to have a barbecue, yuuuuuch," she said,
making a face. "We ate in the house."
Monitor Sugar has used the site for about 15 years, said Terry
Walkington, Saginaw Bay district supervisor for the surface water
quality division of the DEQ.
The beet processor's main plant is on Euclid Avenue. The
Hotchkiss Road facility is where Monitor Sugar composts waste from
settling ponds at the main site, Walkington said.
After the fall campaign, the company lets the settling ponds
drain until summer, then dredges the material and sends it to the
Hotchkiss site for composting.
"It's very smelly. It's what we call unstabilized - it still
has a lot of bacteria in it, organic matter, it still has sugar beet
juices," Walkington said.
The composted material eventually mixes with other soil for sale
as topsoil. Walkington also said that material is too soupy for
Monitor Township regulations, which worsens the smell problem.
Easter said neighbors want action.
"We were here first," she said. "They're bringing
the stink to us."
Jim and Leeann Andrzejewski live in a subdivision off Hotchkiss
Road, down the way from Easter's house. They've lived in their newly
built house since the end of May, and never noticed the stench
before they moved in. They were shocked the first time they noticed
it.
"Our first thing was, what's that smell?" Leeann said.
Neighbors filled them in on the source of the sewage-like odor. The
couple said they get the smell from the site itself and the trucks
that bring the material in.
Jim Andrzejewski calls the DEQ to complain regularly. He said
when they first got married, they lived near the main plant on
Euclid Avenue.
"I don't think the smell during the campaign is as bad as
what's going by here," he said.
Jim Andrzejewski said he doesn't think Monitor Sugar should get
its state discharge permit renewed.
"If they didn't get their license renewed, then they would
get down and fix it the way it's supposed to be fixed," he
said.
Another issue of concern to the DEQ is that the wastewater and
storm water runoff goes into the Bauer drain and ditches, which lead
to the Saginaw River, Walkington said. The concentration of
oxygen-consuming material and solids pollutes the drains, he said.
Walkington said any issues not dealt with by the company by Oct.
31 will be added to negotiations concerning other violations cited
in an earlier notice about the main facility.
A May 22 notice lists several violations in 1999 and 2000 of
permitted limits for temperature, oxygen-consuming matter, suspended
solids and toxicity.
The DEQ is negotiating an administrative consent order with the
company, and on July 13 issued an order dealing with temperature
violations in the summer of 1999. That order resulted in a $15,000
fine.
Terry Miller, chairman of the Lone Tree Council, praised the DEQ
for the recent notice.
"This is very commendable on the part of the DEQ surface
water division that they're calling the company on these
problems," he said. "The important part is getting the
company to remediate the problems."
Miller said it's obvious to him Monitor Sugar needs help.
"And the thing that concerns me is the (fall harvest)
campaign hasn't even started yet. We're looking at the beet campaign
about to begin, and all the waste that's generated from that
campaign.
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