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City extends review of Dairy Farmers of America odor complaints; company agrees to monitoring
Summary
After months of neighborhood complaints about foul odors from the Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) creamery, the St. Albans City Council voted to extend a notice-of-intent to seek a public health order for 30 days while DFA installs monitoring and continues mitigation steps.
St. Albans city officials and residents told the City Council they continue to receive complaints that a recent onsite wastewater treatment system at the Dairy Farmers of America creamery has emitted offensive odors that some residents described as “septic” or “sulfuric.” The council voted to extend for 30 days the city’s notice of intent to seek a health order while the company completes additional monitoring and mitigation work.
City Manager Dominic Cloud told the council the city issued a notice of intent to seek a health order in early August that would require DFA to stop odor-producing operations that discharge offensive odors beyond property lines, allow inspections, set up a complaint line and produce an odor-mitigation plan. Cloud said the action followed months of resident calls and staff observations across the city.
DFA representatives acknowledged there were “odors” after they installed a new pretreatment device required by the Agency of Natural Resources. Company representatives described a multi-month effort of operational fixes—timing changes, new aeration and agitation hardware, carbon filtration changes, chemical dosing and testing—and said a consultant will install perimeter monitoring starting the next day.
DFA’s August-to-early-September sampling summary, shown to the council, reported nondetectable hydrogen sulfide readings at DFA’s larger carbon vessel for most of the sampling period and two early readings above 1 part per million at the smaller sludge-stack discharge. DFA said those two higher readings were at the start of operations and that the company has since added a wet scrubber plan and other controls.
Council discussion emphasized both the community quality-of-life impacts and the technical uncertainty about odor sources. Cloud and other city staff said the city had not been part of the state enforcement action that required DFA’s pretreatment system, and that the city only became directly involved after resident complaints increased.
The council motioned, seconded and approved extending the city’s notice of intent to seek a health order for 30 days to allow monitoring data to be gathered and evaluated; council members asked that DFA involve city staff in monitoring discussions and keep complaint records current.
DFA representatives committed to continuing engineering changes and to work with the city on follow-up steps if monitoring identifies additional odor sources beyond their treated discharge.
Why it matters: Residents said odors affected their ability to open windows and use outdoor spaces. The council action preserves the city’s enforcement options while giving the company time to demonstrate whether its fixes and the new monitoring regime eliminate odors beyond the property line.
What’s next: DFA will install perimeter monitors; city staff will review monitoring results and complaint logs and report back to the council at or before the council’s October meeting.
