'Nobody wants to breathe that'
MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. -- When the wind picks up or the heat sets in, people say the smell in one Maple Valley neighborhood will make your stomach turn.
"It's, uh, cow manure," said resident Peggy Frantz. "It's not pleasant. Nobody wants to breathe that."
People are holding their noses and pointing their fingers at the accused villain -- the nearby Cedar Grove Composting Facility.
"Well, clean it up. clean the air up!" said Frantz.
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency says it has received 263 complaints about the smell this year, and more than 100 of them in July.
The facility's chief environmental officer was not available for an interview, but sent the following statement:
"This material even though it is unloaded and processed inside a building at our Maple Valley Facility everyone can help with the reduction of odor potential," said Jerry Bartlett in his statement.
Bartlett blames some of the stench on people setting their trash outside -- an argument local residents don't buy.
"He's the one emitting the odor; we're not!" said Frantz.
And at certain times of the day, residents say, the stench is worse.
"It's in the mornings or at night," said resident Julie Ryan.
"In the night, sometimes, it's just nauseating. You have to close the house up, it's so bad. Or it just goes all through the house," Frantz said.
The clean air agency has assigned an investigator to the case to investigate complaints. When the facility's permit is up for renewal, members of the public will have a say on whether to redefine the requirements expressly stated on the permit.
"It's, uh, cow manure," said resident Peggy Frantz. "It's not pleasant. Nobody wants to breathe that."
People are holding their noses and pointing their fingers at the accused villain -- the nearby Cedar Grove Composting Facility.
"Well, clean it up. clean the air up!" said Frantz.
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency says it has received 263 complaints about the smell this year, and more than 100 of them in July.
The facility's chief environmental officer was not available for an interview, but sent the following statement:
"This material even though it is unloaded and processed inside a building at our Maple Valley Facility everyone can help with the reduction of odor potential," said Jerry Bartlett in his statement.
Bartlett blames some of the stench on people setting their trash outside -- an argument local residents don't buy.
"He's the one emitting the odor; we're not!" said Frantz.
And at certain times of the day, residents say, the stench is worse.
"It's in the mornings or at night," said resident Julie Ryan.
"In the night, sometimes, it's just nauseating. You have to close the house up, it's so bad. Or it just goes all through the house," Frantz said.
The clean air agency has assigned an investigator to the case to investigate complaints. When the facility's permit is up for renewal, members of the public will have a say on whether to redefine the requirements expressly stated on the permit.