Council holds special meeting to address West Homewood smell, noise

Members of the Homewood City Council met Tuesday with representatives from Volatile Analysis, Buffalo Rock and Dean Foods, which includes Mayfield Farms, for a special issues session. 

With a goal to create a plan that everyone was willing to participate in, Katherine Bazemore of Volatile Analysis said she hoped to encourage a collaborative effort between the two companies  and the city to resolve the issue of the sour odor that has been lingering in West Homewood. 

Volatile Analysis recently gave the companies the results from their initial testing, which was aimed toward determining the contributing compounds.

From this, the primary location of the smell was determined to be Buffalo Rock. 

Since the primary test results were finalized, both companies have worked with their own, third-party companies to determine a course of action to control the compounds that are being released, but without quantifying the amount of each compound. 

Bazemore said by moving forward without any hard numbers, the process could take much longer and become a more drawn out procedure of determining what adjustments need to be made for each company.

“If we get [the odor threshold] down initially, that odor doesn’t stand a chance,” she said. 

After deliberation, both companies agreed to move forward by creating a timeline and plan that includes quantifying the contributing compounds and reporting those numbers to the city by Oct. 6.

Once both companies have presented their plans, there will be additional meetings to discuss the matter and any possible collaboration that may be necessary. 

Additionally, Buffalo Rock discussed the noise grievances that local residents have also been voicing. COO Matthew Dent said the company is identifying and testing different sites to determine the cause of the noise and possible solutions to avoid any trial and error that could prolong the process.

Neighbors have recently brought up a new source of what they describe as even louder noise on Oakmoor Drive, which runs behind the parking for Buffalo Rock. The noise was described as similar to a jet engine and not akin to something heard at a construction site.

In discussing the timeline, Dent mentioned that they hoped to have a permanent solution for all noise complaints, both new and old, by November. 

Vance Moody, Ward 2, asked for the company to consider finding temporary solutions to the excessive noise while they work towards a more permanent resolution.