St. John Parish (LA) Residents Sickened By Stench From Immense Piles Of Rotting Grain
It began last week, when a putrid and suddenly prevalent smell began wafting through Reserve, prompting a number of St. John the Baptist Parish residents to file complaints with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The smell has refused to go away, and elected officials, civil servants, politicians and local activists are scratching their heads in confusion over the source: several oversized mounds of grain belonging to Agri South -- a cattle feed company that, according to multiple parish agencies, has no record of occupancy there.
The piles in question are located on West 19th Street, caddy corner to Reserve's sweeping Marathon petroleum plant, on gated premises next to a warehouse facility with no apparent signage. Until very recently, the piles had gone wholly unnoticed.
But one afternoon last week, Reserve resident Monica Abadie set out on a routine trip to run a few errands. As soon as she left her house on West 17th Street and River Road, she found herself distracted -- and sickened -- by a pervasive stench she didn't often smell in her neck of the woods. "It was something nauseating," Abadie said. "When I came home I was sick to my stomach. It smelled rotten, like fermented grain -- it smelled like vomit. We'd smelled it before when they wouldn't unload the barges for days and the grain would rot, but not since. I followed the smell, and there were mounds of grain, just piled up on the ground."
EDIT
On Jan. 3, prompted by Vicknair's complaints, the LDEQ sent an inspector to investigate the grain piles and determine whether or not the agency is required to regulate the company responsible. According to LDEQ spokesman Rodney Mallet, employees encountered at the site identified the company as Agri South, a producer of cattle feed and corn gluten. Because Agri South's anticipated annual particulate emissions are less than five tons, Mallet said, the corporation is entitled to a statutory exemption from LDEQ regulation. "We got a complaint; we went to see if they were burning anything on-site; they weren't," Mallet said. "They're collecting corn gluten and bagasse. It's odorous, but it's not a regulation emission, so we don't regulate."
EDIT
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2013/01/grain_piles_in_reserve_inspire.html#incart_river
= new reply since forum marked as read
