Got odors? City of Murfreesboro wants to know where and when
Correction: The Murfreesboro government launched an online portal September 2021 to gather complaints from residents about the odors from the private Middle Point Landfill. A previous post of this story had the incorrect date of the online portal.
If the stench and stink of Middle Point Landfill are overpowering, city leaders in Murfreesboro want to know when and where.
The city continues to promote an online portal launched on the local government website a year ago for residents to report odors or gas believed to be connected to the BFI's Middle Point Landfill: murfreesborotn.report. The website landing page has a simple complaint form that residents can fill out and information goes directly to the city.
In recent years, Middle Point has been the subject of hundreds of odor complaints from members of the community. The landfill is also located near Murfreesboro's northern boundary by the East Fork Stones River, which is the source of drinking water for the city and much of Rutherford County.
Although the landfill has its own website odor reporting system, most of those complaints are sent directly to BFI or to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
“TDEC has statewide obligations and limited resources, we understand that," Mayor Shane McFarland said. "The city, however, has a specific local issue to address, and we need a more targeted approach."
Public hearing set:Plans to divert solid waste from Middle Point Landfill
By launching the odor-reporting website, the city hopes to reduce confusion and improve the reporting process by collecting information directly from the public
Information will be used by the city to determine whether odors are ongoing, changing, or gone altogether. Anyone who wishes to provide additional information that will be confidential can indicate that on the form, along with a preferred method of contact.
The site also alerts the public that any emergency odor, gas, or illness situation should be directed to 911 or the Rutherford County Emergency Management Agency via https://ema.rutherfordcountytn.gov/.
BFI, which owns and operates the landfill, has stated the odor problems would be resolved by the end of July 2021.
Related:Murfreeesboro council sues Middle Point Landfill owners over odor and water pollution
In recent years, BFI and TDEC have repeatedly pointed to city infrastructure as the source of odors. In response, Murfreesboro set up a simplified air-monitoring plan for one type of gas: hydrogen sulfide, a foul-smelling gas common to both sewers and landfills.
The city’s monitoring program revealed that high levels of hydrogen sulfide were not coming from the city sewer system. Sensors located in the vicinity of Middle Point -- and away from any sewer facilities -- repeatedly detected elevated hydrogen sulfide levels near the landfill. The timing of these elevated readings was consistent with the wind direction coming off the landfill.
Based on recently discovered information, it appears that there are ongoing chemical reactions in landfill that continue to generate unusually high temperatures and gasses that are not typically emitted from landfills.
Last month the Murfreesboro City Council consulted with legal counsel before directing staff in a 7-0 vote to file the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Nashville against the landfill owners, Republic Services, a publicly traded corporation based in Phoenix. The lawsuit also will be against two of the company's local operations: BFI Waste Services of Tennessee LLC and Republic Services of Tennessee LLC.
Reach reporter Nancy DeGennaro at degennaro@dnj.com. Reach reporter Scott Broden at sbroden@dnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Got odors?: City of Murfreesboro wants to know where and when
