More than half of all air pollution complaints registered to regulatory agencies in the U.S. are related to odor issues. While EPA does not recognize odor as a pollutant and does not regulate odors through the Clean Air Act amendments, local regulatory groups largely enforce odor impacts through nuisance regulations. As a result, the enforcement is subjective, usually at the discretion of an environmental inspector or Air Pollution Control Officer, often based upon verified citizen complaints. Thus, it is difficult for facilities to mitigate an alleged odor violation.
Landfills, waste handling facilities, and renewable energy plants are cognizant of odor issues and strive to minimize odors. SCS Engineers have the expertise in-house to assess and quantify odor emissions and assess impacts. We offer advanced techniques in dispersion meteorology and air monitoring systems for assessing odor impacts from client facilities. These capabilities allow our clients to assess the severity of their odor issues and by doing so set realistic benchmarks toward cost-effective and meaningful mitigation measures.
SCS odor assessment capabilities include the following problem-solving services:
Visit SCS’s Odor Monitoring and Control page for more information.
Landfills, compost facilities, transfer stations, and renewable energy plants are cognizant of odor issues and strive to minimize odors. Proactive odor management is critical to the continued success and operation of these facilities. More so than ever before, the solid waste industry faces complex and challenging odor issues based upon public, regulatory, and legal actions. Since odors are generally enforced through nuisance regulations, compliance can be difficult to achieve, not to mention almost impossible to define. Enforcement of odor nuisances is subjective, usually at the discretion of an environmental inspector or Air Pollution Control Officer, and often based upon citizen complaints. When citizen complaints mount, and enforcement action is leveraged, lawsuits often surface as an added ongoing challenge to waste facility operations. Now politicians are demanding action and using alleged odor violations as part of their environmental platforms. Facing odor issues can be costly and threaten the intended land-use designs that waste facilities require to serve their local communities.
