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Council to meet with two companies to address odor in West Homewood

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Sydney Cromwell

Sydney Cromwell

After presentation of the latest chemical testing results from Volatile Analysis, the Homewood City Council is ready to meet with the two companies where the strongest presence of odor-causing chemicals were found.

Katherine Bazemore of Volatile Analysis returned to the special issues committee on Sept. 12 to talk about the results, which showed that the fatty-acid chemicals causing strong sour, cheese-like odors had showed up in samples taken from the Buffalo Rock wastewater treatment plant and the nearby Vanguard facility, both in West Homewood.

“Buffalo Rock was determined to be the primary location to do mitigation,” Bazemore said, adding that the smell was discernible while on the Buffalo Rock site doing testing. Some quantities of the same chemicals were found at Dean Foods, which was previously believed to be the likely source, but they were not strong enough to be smelled on-site.

Bazemore said she felt confident enough in the results, which were based on seven primary odor-causing compounds, to recommend the city council begin working with Buffalo Rock and Vanguard directly. She said both companies should have the capabilities needed to do any further testing and begin taking steps to bring the chemicals down to an acceptable range.

“I feel like we’ve given you very good information to get those guys together,” Bazemore said.

Volatile Analysis had shared copies of its results with the involved companies as well as council members. Dean Foods contacted council members during the special issues meeting with its response, which was not discussed, but neither Buffalo Rock nor Vanguard had responded.

The committee has asked city attorney Mike Kendrick to set up a meeting with Buffalo Rock and Vanguard within the next week to talk about next steps. Bazemore offered to return at no extra cost to help define what chemical testing the companies will need to do next. Committee members also asked her to give an estimate of what Volatile Analysis would charge for a similar study in case they need it.

Bazemore estimated three to four weeks of additional testing to determine quantities of chemicals present, and enacting solutions could begin within a few weeks or months, depending on the complexity of the problem.

“I think that you should be able to see some progress within that [six to nine-week] period," Bazemore said.

At the full council meeting following the special issues meeting, the council approved a new version of the Neighborhood Preservation District zoning ordinance. The ordinance limits houses on 55 feet wide or smaller lots to 29 feet in height from threshold to apex, or a maximum of 32 feet when lot grading is included. For houses on larger lots, the height is now 35 feet or up to 38 feet when including grading.

The ordinance also establishes minimum side setbacks of five feet and nine feet for homes on lots 55 feet wide or smaller and setbacks of 10 feet on each side for larger lots. 

The council also:

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