North side residents rally for clean air, better smells
Trending
ALPENA -- Residents fed up with smelly air raised a stink near the steps of City Hall in Alpena on Friday.
About a dozen residents of Alpena's north side brought posters and frustration to the afternoon gathering, hoping to catch the attention of city leaders they feel aren't doing enough to corral smells the protesters say endanger their health.
Alpena Mayor Matt Waligora addressed the group, at times having to talk over shouts of anger.
Waligora said representatives from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy have been in Alpena all week, investigating the source of a smell on Alpena's north side that the mayor acknowledged has been stronger this year than in years past.
A state environmental worker on Friday isolated the source of a particularly strong smell as emanating from a lagoon on the property of Decorative Panels International, according to City Engineer Steve Shultz.
Other smells on other days could come from other places, Waligora clarified.
DPI's senior environmental control officer could not be reached for comment.
The group of protesters sometimes grew vehement as they vented their grievances, anger mixing with discouragement over a battle they feel they've been fighting too long and with too few results.
North side resident Sharon Holzwarth insisted that people who live near the business they believe is creating a health hazard have a right to clean air, and they want the city to fight to help them access that right.
"We just want the smell to stop," Holzwarth said.
Protesters said they've been able to tell for weeks, based on the specific smell, that DPI's lagoons were the source of this summer's particularly bad smell.
Several blamed Waligora, saying he promised to find a fix for the problem but failed to take action.
Waligora, who admitted he suspected the lagoons as one source of smell some time ago, reminded the crowd the city has no jurisdiction over the business's environmental impact.
Only the state has such oversight, Waligora said, encouraging north side residents to document types and times of smells and share that information with the state.
Describing the smells would be easy, said the residents, who say they regularly have to endure a smell reminiscent of excrement around and in their homes.
"I can't go outside," said north side resident Chris Lozen. "The smell is nauseating."
She has to light candles inside her house to combat the smell she said gives her headaches. If the wind shifts, the smell leaves, "but then someone else is smelling it," she said. "It's not like it goes away."
DPI has replaced smokestacks and installed controls and filters that cut back on previous environmental concerns, such as heavy soot that got into residents' homes, but the smell problem has gotten worse, Lozen said.
Waligora's suggestion that protesters take their grievances to the state was met with some agreement, but also some disgust, with residents exclaiming that they've been talking to the state for years, trying without success to get someone to take steps to mitigate the smell.
Even if the state cites DPI for an environmental infraction, many north side residents believe the company will pay its fine without changing its practices, said resident Paul Lozen.
Last year, the state issued a "Level 3" violation against DPI when the business was discovered to have several piles of decomposed matter on its property that had to be removed.
The violation resulted in the state sending letters to DPI ordering the company to fix the problem. The official who identified a smell source at DPI on Friday said the incident will be classified as another Level 3 violation, probably triggering more letters requiring remediation, Shultz told the group at City Hall.
Waligora encouraged residents concerned about health impacts of the bad smells, or whether such smells mean produce from their gardens could be unsafe to eat, to contact the local health department.
Several protesters expressed concern that the smell could drive away tourists or keep prospective new businesses from deciding to open in the downtown area.
North siders who want to move can't sell their homes because of the smell, the group said.
Holzwarth, a 46-year resident of the north side, spoke with pride of her work keeping her house looking nice over the years, including pouring hours of labor into flower beds in a yard she says she can no longer enjoy because "you can't stop the smell of s--," she said.
She bristled at the suggestion that, if she doesn't like the smell on the north side of town, she can leave.
"That's my land," Holzwarth said, speaking with pride of her neighborhood and the neighbors who look out for each other. "I have a right to the enjoyment of my property without the stink."
Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jriddleX.