Odor Report 3/30/2020 for Zellwood, Tangerine and Surrounding Neighborhoods

The Daily Sludge Report

For

Zellwood, Tangerine, Surrounding Neighborhoods


March 30, 2020

Zero Days Without A Smell Report

We vote and we talk to voters

Editor's Comment: I have come to the conclusion that we were misled about Anuvia being a biosolids plant. It's actually a fertilizer plant, which brings in an entirely different connotation. The term "biosolids" gives the impression of an environmentally friendly product whereas the term "fertilizer factory" evokes images of chemical smells. And yes, Anuvia uses chemicals to convert the biosolids they process to make fertilizer. 

Odor Reports

1:30 am There is no smell. Delightful. 


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Original Poster (OP) 9:50 am Just saw someone from the county (white SUV) stop on Lake Ola Dr, get out of the car and smell the air. He had some kind of document on his dashboard.

Responder 1 12:43 am That sounds like Dr. Kane of the FDEP. He has been out here many times and I suspect that our calls and e-mails on Friday brought him out again. Unfortunately for documentation purposes, the wind is coming in from the WSW today at 6 mph. The wind shifted last night. We get the smell when the wind comes in from the SE. I talked to him on Lake Ola Drive recently and it was the first time he was able to catch the smell.
(OP) Unfortunately, this morning when he was here, there was no smell.

Responder  1 I know. But I also know that he has smelled it before. I'm going to e-mail him.

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(OP) Orange County Officials were not really/very interested in our plight prior to the Coronavirus outbreak. I do not doubt they are extremely busy because of it. However, I'm also pretty sure that they'll use it as an excuse to sweep it under the rug - hoping not to revisit it for a very long time or if ever at all.

Responder 1 I had a conversation with Alan Marshall of Orange County today. There are a lot of due process procedures that need to take place. Due to the Coronavirus situation, most likely Shelley's will be called before a special magistrate (judge) in June or July. He will be contacting other departments about our situation today. He is hampered as today is the first day that everyone is working from home and some of the pieces needed for communication are not functioning correctly. [This is predictable and expected.] I have no doubt that he'll follow through. 

Responder 2 8:00 pm Very poopy smell about 8:00 @ REDACTED King Street in Zellwood



(OP) 9:00 pm Documenting #TheSmell 8 out of 10 on King Street (different poster)

Responder 1  I was out working in my yard this afternoon when the smell started to come in. It was a 2 when I came in. I'm guessing they were just ramping up. I will put it on the blog. I appreciate your report even though it's not what we want.

(OP) and Responder 1 Discussion of Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice

 (OP) This whole area was once thought of as "remote" - fast forward with the population growth - we are no longer.

 Responder 1  They like to put these plants in neighborhoods that aren't politically active. Christine Moore comes up for re-election in 2 years. We need to get people registered to vote, I'm not trying to get anyone voted out, but having voters is power and will help us get these messes cleaned up. I always make a point when having a discussion with officials to mention all of the people affected not just the more advantaged. I believe that no one should have to breathe this bad air. There is a reason why children living in poverty have more asthma than children living in wealthy areas. Check out this video. 
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4-7 pm I was working on the lakefront and in the yard. Anuvia's odor waxed and waned going between 0-3 on a scale of 1-10 with an occasional gust of 4.

Letters

Hello Dr. Kane,

Today, one of my neighbors saw a man in a white SUV park on Lake Ola Drive then get out and smell the air. I assume (yes, I know what that means) it was you. If it was you, please see the photos on our blog documenting the wind direction today.  We don't get an odor when the wind comes in from the N, NW, or NSW, but if the plant is running at the time or within the previous 24 hours, and if the wind is coming in from the S, we get a noxious odor. There are photos showing the wind directions I've got today on the blog post linked below. 

We've taken to referring to the levels of odor on a scale of 1-10. Friday was a 10.

Interestingly, while working in my yard this weekend it hit me that there were no lichens in my yard. There used to be lichens crusting all over a particular tree and now there is nada. Is there any monitoring equipment that can be set up to monitor the air quality in Tangerine? We are a bird sanctuary and want to preserve our natural flora, fauna, and composite organisms as well. 

As always I thank you for all that you're doing to help us solve this problem. Stay healthy and come back out when the wind is coming in from the S. 


Best regards,

REDACTED

PS: The blog will be updated as necessary until midnight tonight. The blog URL is https://tangerinestinks.blogspot.com
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Dear Governor Desantis,

I feel guilty writing to you so soon after my last email as I know you are totally overwhelmed with the virus crisis.

The air quality in Tangerine is totally unacceptable.  Fortunately for us today the wind is coming from the North.

 I grew up in Kent, Ohio and Akron, Ohio at the time was the tire capital of the world.  All the major tire companies had their manufacturing plants in Akron and when you went through Akron the smell was horrendous and you had to keep the car windows up.

Friday morning when I let my dogs out in the morning I could have sworn I was in Akron.  It was the exact same high sulfur smell.  After only a couple of minutes outside my eyes, nose and throat were burning.  My dogs usually like to stay out in the morning when it is cooler, however, they did their business and ran right back in.

I spoke with the assistant to the commissioner who advised that the county cannot do anything, it is up to the state EPA.  You see, we have two facilities that are contributing to the air quality problem.  One is Shelley's Septic which has violated several codes, zoning ordinances and dumps waste before it is properly treated.  The county could do something about some of these issues, however, they are saying it is up to the state.  Shelley's has threatened litigation against the county.

The second problem is with Anuvia Biosolids which is a fertilizer plant and the source of the chemical smells.  Anuvia allegedly entered into a consent order with the county, however, we have been unable to obtain a copy.  Anuvia is now in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  There are times when the smell actually seeps into my house in the middle of the night and I wake up in a coughing fit.

The coronavirus attacks the respiratory system and we are all having compromised respiratory systems due to these two businesses ruining the quality of the air we breathe.  We cannot go outside, work in our yards or go walking for exercise.

I am once again asking your assistance in getting some intervention from the state once the virus situation is resolved.  We have been putting up with this for nearly nine months now and desperately need a solution.

Thank you so much for your time.  If there is anything I could personally do to assist during this crisis, please do not hesitate to contact me.  

Sincerely,

 REDACTED

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Of Note
Synopsis of a phone call made by a member today-

(OP) I received a call this morning from Daniel in Christine Moore's office in response to an email I had sent showing my disappointment as I felt she was not helping us with the smell problem.

Daniel basically put all the blame on the state EPA. He said the county is placing a daily fine on Shelley's and that Shelley's has threatened litigation against the county.  According to him, the smell is an EPA matter that the state has to take care of, it is not the county's jurisdiction.

I then asked what is going on with Anuvia, we were under the impression that a consent order had been entered, however, the small has gotten much worse.  He did not know what Anuvia had agreed to.

He also said that the county cannot determine who is creating the problem.  I told him that we are able to distinguish who it is.  There are days when it smells like someone has taken a big poop that covers your whole yard (Shelley's) and there are days when it is a terrible chemical that causes your eyes to water and your nose and throat to burn.

Daniel said he would see what he could find out and hopefully get back to me in a week or so. I will see what I hear next.

My feeling is that the county is being a little less than truthful.  There are zoning and code violations that the county is to enforce and take care of.  
###
Responder 1 Sounds like a political dance. Did the county do some big incentive loan to Anuvia to build?

Responder 2 I'm posting the synopsis that was sent to me. What I know is that the county got rid of all enforcement rules they had that duplicated the FDEPs. It appears the county had something to do with bond sales through the group below.


Responder 1 Thank you. If you follow the money you find the basis of the problem.

Responder 2 It's Orange County's willingness to help our/their communities bring jobs in. I want people to have jobs, of course, but I also want the companies to follow the law and frankly, do more than the law requires.

Responder 1 BTW...very poopy smell about 8:00 @ REDACTED King St. Zellwood

Responder 3 This is very interesting - NOW the county says it's Not their Job - whereas we've been emailing our complaints to the County Officials and yet NOT ONE has pointed us to the correct Governing Body!! Like, why couldn't this have been said before? Round the Mountain we go...

(OP) This wasn't my phone call and I think Daniel doesn't see the whole picture. As I learned today in a different call, there was a time that the county and state duplicated each other as far as rules or policies go. The county got rid of some of their rules and the state now enforces the rules for that the county removed. But the county has a lot of communication with the state and these concerns should be passed to the state. And they have done this as the DEP is handling Anuvia. Shelley's IS the county's jurisdiction and Daniel is wrong if he said that. I think that we're on the right track and need to continue making a trail of evidence that cannot be ignored. When this virus thing is over we can access the situation and decide a course of action. Everyone at the county and probably the state is working from home and there are glitches. I'm not happy with the pace either. The silver lining is that since we're home more, we have more time to goose the people who should be helping us.

 ..........
(OP) Channel 9 6/29/16 Report on Anuvia

Responder 1 Wow. And that was before the deal with Smithfield.

(OP) I still wonder why they have to bring the hog poop all of the way down here.

Responder 1 Well...cuz nobody else wants it around I am assuming.

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The Apopka news year in review: City issues Cease Discharge Order to Anuvia


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