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Show Legal Battle Over Odorous Air by Geri Taylor For more than three years, Pleasant Grove has been in a struggle with the Timpanogos Special Services District (TSSD) over the composting odors PG claims has cost the city millions of dollars in lost revenues, past, present and future. With the promise that improved facilities at TSSD would eliminate the odors from composting, PG officials held off any legal action until the project was completed and proof of the pledge would be evident. When the new multi-million multi-million dollar GORE system was finished and other improvements made, there was an obvious decrease in both days and odors, but not to the satisfaction of the city. An ultimatum was given to either cease composting immediately or face legal action. Without the support of the Board which oversees the waste management plant, Pleasant Grove, American Fork, and local businesses and landowners along the 1-15 corridor formed a Citizens for Clean Air and Progress (CCAP) coalition to further their intent to take legal action. An outside attorney was hired and an initial complaint was filed, giving TSSD 60 days to respond or face further legal action. The claim was rejected and a lawsuit was filed last year. The suit is in the discovery phase, with lawyers from both sides putting together evidence to support their claims and hopefully there will be some movement this summer. When asked about the current condition of the odor, PG City Administrator, Scott Darrington said while it has definitely improved, there are still days and sometimes weeks when the smell comes and goes. It is more pronounced when there is a spring thaw or inversion, which the area has been deluged within the past several months. After the incredible amount of money spent on the new system to eliminate odors, city officials still see composting as a deterrent for new businesses to locate near the waste management plant. From the cities point of view, composting off-site is the only viable solution. TSSD manager, Jon Adams, says he wants nothing more than to be a good neighbor, but his hands are tied in many ways. The waste plant was relocated to the outskirts of American Fork in 1979, which was considered the most remote site for the undesirable but necessary operation. In 1996 the board unanimously voted to begin composting - a logical way to dispose of waste in a cost-efficient way, and millions were invested in the new venture. The growth in Utah county over the past decade has put a burden on the plant to not only increase it's intake capacity, but the size of the plant itself, and since the new off-ramp to Pleasant Grove brought business to the former farmland, there has been an ongoing problem with the odor. Adam notes that even if TSSD wanted to stop composting, there are laws and other entities that regulate what they can and can't do. There are stringent rules for disposing of the sludge and while the district is always looking at new technology, the process of change may take months or even years to get approved and then implemented. If composting is eliminated at TSSD, Adams says the cost to haul the sludge to a landfill or other site will be passed on to the rate payer. Even relocating the compost production will incur a financial burden that will be absorbed by the users of TSSD. There is no easy solution in sight, but perhaps with the rapid increase in technology, a compromise can be reached that will benefit us all. |
