Regulators order factory to stop stinking up NC-SC counties after 17,000 complaints
South Carolina environmental officials are demanding that a cardboard factory in Catawba lower gas emissions that are making the area smell like rotten eggs.
The New-Indy factory is belching out too much of a “noxious air contaminant,” making parts of Lancaster and York counties and neighboring areas in North Carolina, including Charlotte, reek, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
DHEC’s order tells New-Indy to check its regulations and equipment in order to decrease the emissions.
“This order clearly defines immediate actions that New Indy must take to ensure good air quality for the people who live and work near the facility,” said Dr. Edward Simmer, DHEC director. “As the state’s public health and environmental protection agency, it is our duty to ensure that companies in South Carolina are good stewards of our beautiful state and that our residents have clean, odor-free air to the extent we can control.”
New-Indy has disputed claims that the plant is to blame for the odor.
The company, in an April 16 letter to Myra Reece, the state director of environmental affairs, said it hired an outside firm that found no chemical compounds “in any meaningful concentration that would equate to intense odors,” The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
The order requires New-Indy to start testing and cleaning up the air by mid-May, with further testing required to commence by June 1.
DHEC said that it began receiving complaint about the odor in February and to date has received 17,135 complaints, an “unprecedented number” about an odor.
‘Persistent odor’ of rotten eggs gags NC-SC neighborhoods. Investigators sniff around.
After investigating, DHEC determined that a shift from making white paper to cardboard as well as equipment changes at the factory are the likely sources of the odor.
The Environmental Protection Agency also looked into the problem and, with DHEC, discovered that the factory was putting out high levels of hydrogen sulfide, a noxious air contaminant.
Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless, flammable gas, according to DHEC’s order.
The studies also found that wastewater, “sludge storage” and a landfill connected to the factory may contain sulfurs, adding to the bad smell. These also need to be tested and corrected, DHEC ordered.
Sickened NC-SC homeowners seek governor’s help as foul odor gags neighborhoods
“This decisive action is the result of a vigorous, cooperative investigation by DHEC and its partners,” said Gov. Henry McMaster. “I’m confident that this order will bring long-term resolution to this matter and ease the concerns of York and Lancaster County residents.”
